Avengers: Dawn of Shadows
by LadyVajra
Summary: Takes place after Civil War&Homecoming, Infinity war never happened or anything else after. Loki's sentencing after NY is very altered, he actually has a chance to redeem himself. Hulk is the reason the Civil War teams reuinited. Since then they have settled and grown into a family. Peter is 15, the twins 17 and the teens each have a legal guardian.
1. Code Red

**Warning: **Chapter contains violence.

* * *

'_9 am_' The display on his watch does nothing to lift Nick Fury's mood as he glanced at his wrist. Did this meeting have to be so early in the morning? His face showing an absence of emotion, he looks across the table at the gathered people who insisted on this meeting to discuss the matters of security across the globe.

Fury observes the representative of Europe; a french guy in his fourties with thick accent, a Japanese man in his thirties who has mostly been quietly observing and an obvious Texan man in his fourties. The Texan been mostly going back and forth with the frenchman about weapon smuggling and an increase in gun violence, some organized crime groups and minor other events.

Fury does his best to bite back the deep sigh he wants to release at the petty squabble. He sees very little reason to hold these meetings for such minor crimes, nothing the countries themselves cannot take care of. It certainly doesn't call for a meeting with representatives in person. Glancing down at the stack of papers before him, Fury flips through them barely able to suppress a bored expression. Feeling eyes on him he glances to a corner of the room where agent Maria Hill, one of his most capable and loyal agents left over from S.H.I.E.L.D., stands watching him as taking notes of the meeting. Seeing her slight smirk and spark of amusement in her eyes, Fury knows she's well aware of him most likely getting bored to death. Only showing a slight twitch of a smirk back he then eyes the men before him.

"Right, gentlemen. If that is all of the problems going on then I suggest we've discussed it sufficiently." Fury tells them, drawing the attention to him.

Having been in the middle of a heated argument on gun permits and increased violence, both the Texan and frenchman look at Fury dumbfounded.

"Now wait just a minute Fury.. we ain't done yet." the Texan is quick to protest, watching Fury stand up from his seat.

"We got the reports, the paperwork is all here. I don't see any reason the matters need to be discussed further in person. I'm sure you gents have more important things to do than go over petty crime." Fury tells them and picks up the papers, handing them to agent Hill as she walks over to him.

"_Petty?_ You call these.. these..._ mass shootings_ 'petty'?" the frenchman now chimes in, his face showing anger and disbelieve.

"Look. -" Fury says then, leaning on the table before continuing. "- in comparison to what Earth has gone through throughout the years, _yes_ it is petty. I don't mean the casualties are, what I _do_ mean is that it doesn't require immediate action and interference of other countries."

The frenchman, still in disbelieve, looks at the Texan then the Japanese man, gauging their response to this.

"You sayin' these things aren't big enough for ya?" the Texan asks, raising an eyebrow.

"These crimes can be handles by their own country. We can deal with our own crimes. This could have been done by phone or paper." the Japanese man now states calmly.

Gesturing to him, Fury smiles and says "At least someone agrees. This all isn't something that threatens the world. The people are mainly safe and content. There's always trouble and violence somewhere, but these are not of the proportions that need global attention or discussion like this. So, we're done here."

Making his way to the door he hears the frenchman mutter angrily and Fury can't help but smile to himself. As the three representatives discuss some more as also taking their leave, Fury is already heading down the hallway.

"You almost sound like you _want_ something bigger to happen." agent Hill jokes and is rewarded with a chuckle from Fury as they walk down the halls of the building.

"Things been quiet. We know what's out there lurking, not just Earthen villains but space ones too. It's been _too_ quiet." Fury comments, feeling an unease gnaw inside him for a while now.

"Well, careful what you wish for boss." agent Hill quips, smirking wide at him.

* * *

No sooner had Fury sat down in an office room filled with computers and monitors to be updated on any issues going on globally that may need S.H.I.E.L.D. or Avengers interference, when commotion is heard. Hearing shouting and gunshots going off, soon after followed by screams and chaos, Fury dashes over to one of the technicians monitoring the building with a wall of monitors to see what's happening. Seeing agents pour into an area of the building, armed and tense, he narrows his eye as seeing a black figure dart across the cameras. Spotting several motionless agents scattered across the rooom the agents charged over to, Fury knows this is a very serious attack. Looking beside him, agent Hill stares startled at the live footage before giving Fury an _'I told you so'_ look.

Rolling his eye, Fury says "Don't even. Get the other agents over, sound the alarm. Find out who and what we're dealing with."

"I've got her in my crosshairs." an agent whispers into his com as aiming a gun at the attacker from a hidden spot.

Hearing his team leader give the go ahead to shoot, the agent fires at the slender, small figure darting through the room with ease. Direct hit... into the wall behind it. Confused, the agent needs a double take for his brain to catch up to the fact the bullet travelled through the figure. He is not given much time however as he barely has time to look beside him as the figure materializes from a cloud of pitch black smoke. Now up close, he can see the figure is a female, she's quite short, very thin, her sleak black hair hanging halfway down her back, bangs covering most of her face and her emerald eyes. The female seems to be between 10 and 14 from what he can see of her features, a mere child.

Having barely managed to take in this info he sees her lunge forward, a wild look in her eyes. Using his own gun, she bashes him in the face with it to daze him, unloading the magazine into a nearby agent seconds later. Turning her attention back to the dazed shooter she looks down at him before raising her hands in a type of battle stance, her hands lighting up with a green light that ignites into a bright neon green fire, Thrusting her hands forward she then spews the fire from them, engulving the agent immediately from head to toe, causing him to scream in agony. Mere seconds later the agent stops moving, the heat so intense his body is already half charred.

Now turning her attention to a new target she whirls her body around. She then proceeds to king an approaching agent in the chest, the force knocking him backwards into two other agents before she runs over. Stretching both her hands out beside her body two identical daggers materialize in a soft green light and she grips them tight as reaching the quick work of them, a blur of movement is seen by the other agents. The sound of metal cutting skin and bone, the splattering of blood splashing everywhere, the snapping of bones and the strangled gurgles of dying screams folows.

In the aftermath, the girl stands in the center of three mangled bodies of the agents, blood pooling the ground where they lay with bloodspatter going far and wide. Horrified and some visibly sick, the agents stare at the sight. She doesnt give them time to process it howecer as she teleports over, using the present shadows to travel, leaving behind a decoy illusion of herself going the opposite direction.

Aiming at the decoy, the agents fire, fuelled by their shock and anger over their teamates fate at the hands of the mystery attacker. Picking them off one by one. the girl slices bodyparts, slams her daggers into jugular veins and repeatedly stabs one in the chest and stomach. Now literally littered with bodies, the room is coated in blood and carnage, one agent left standing; a fairly young man in his early twenties, shaking as holding a rifle, his face and neck soaked in sweat. Frozen in place in fear, he's regretting ever having gotten up that morning, having become and agent, having applied to law enforcement _at all. _Slackjawed, he stands unable to speak, move or fully take in what has happened so far in the last ten minutes. Slowly moving through the shadows, the girl approaches from behind with a wild and dangerous look, a sadistic smile forming on her lips.

* * *

"-ir... Sir.. Sir!" a monotone but seemingly increasingly urgent sounding female voice calls out, rousing Tony Stark from his sleep.

Dazed, laying sprawled on his bed on his stomach, half tangled in the bedsheets Tony groans.

"_What.._" he mutters, not at all happy he's been woken up.

"Sir, urgent message from Nick Fury. It appears there is an ongoing attack at his current location, he has called for a Code Red Assembly." the voice, Tony's AI called Friday replies, sending Tony immediately jumping up.

Untangling himself from the sheets he heads to his dresser as asking "_Code Red_? Did he say who is attacking or any other info?"

Quickly grabbing some clothes that suffice for now as time is limited, Tony throws them on as listening to Friday's answer.

"Fury was specific about the Code Red alert. No further info is given at this time"

Cussing under his breath about the lack of further info he zips up his pants and heads to his bedroom door saying "Alert the others."

"I have done so already, boss. The team is assembling as we speak." Friday tells him in response.

Heading out of the room hurriedly, Tony bumps into Peter who's concerned and already hyper.

"Tony! What's going on? What's Code Red? We never had a _'Code Red'_!" Peter is quick to ramble as pulling on a shirt, having just come out of his bedroom as well.

Internally groaning at how hyper his kid already seems to be Tony gives him a quick look as making way to his workshop.

"Calm down kid. Code Red is only given when there is a major attack going on. A '_come with guns blazin_' kinda assembly." Tony explains as heading into the workshop and stepping onto a hatch before activating the assembly of his suit around him.

Widening his eyes, Peter nods quickly saying "Holy s- .. crap! Do you think it's the Chitauri? Or some invasion? Or supervillain? I bet it's aliens again."

Giving peter a look, Tony needs to do nothing else to prevent the slip up of crude language and shakes his head at the wave of words Peter fires at him saying "I don't know, Underoos. What I _do_ know is that you're staying here." Tony tells him to which Peter immediately protests.

"What! But it's an assembly, that means Avengers Assemble! I'm an Avenger _too_!. You can't be serious!"

Tony's face made clear that it was not up for discussion and that he's made his decision on the matter already, but Peter was headstrong and not about to accept this so easily.

"We don't know what we're dealing with, so you're staying put." Tony informs Peter and finishes having his suit assembled, his mask slamming shut over his face. Pointing at Peter then, the Iron man mask stares at the teen as saying "_Got it_?"

Peter glares at him in disbelieve he was being put on the sideline, huffing a little then saying "_No_! If it's this big then you need all the help you can get!"

Hearing Tony sigh behind the mask only angers Peter further.

"Do as you're told Peter. If I see your spider-butt there, said spider-butt will be in _deep_ trouble." Tony tells him, his voice taking on a deliberate commanding tone before he opens a hatch in the ceiling and uses the suit to take off to the roof of the building.

Left behind, Peter glares at the ceiling before heading over to his room get his Spider-man suit anyway despite what he just got told.

* * *

Steve didnt fair much better with telling Wanda to stay put either but seemed to have succeeded. Standing waiting at the landing pad for the rest, dressed in full gear and gripping his new shield he looks at the gathering team members. Their serious faces and alertness, despite it being early still, tells him that they are ready to tackle whatever Fury is currently dealing with. A bit surprised even Clint and Tony seem alert, despite them being anything but a morning person, Steve nods to them in greeting.

"Any new info?" Natasha is quick to ask as getting into the quinjet, strapping herself into the pilot's seat.

"Nope." Tont tells her as heading in as well and is followed by Steve, Sam, Clint and a reluctant Bruce.

"Are you sure it's a good idea..?" Bruce inquires, still dealing with recovering from his ordeal when having been kidnapped and tortured.

Sure, it brought Steve, Tony and the rest of the Avengers back together after Civil War, but at a very high cost.

"If you don't feel ready..-" Steve tells him, placing his hand on Bruce's shoulder in attempt to calm and show support to him but Tony is quick to cut him off.

"We could use your help, Fury doesn't use 'Code Red' for when he's out of red lipstick."

Nodding a little unsure still, Bruce sits down in one of the seats and straps self in.

"How'd Wanda take it?" Clint asks Steve, drawing the concerned look on the super soldiers face onto him instead.

Sighing a little, Steve sits down in the co-pilot's seat saying "Not so great. But she respected my wishes."

Chuckling, Clint inspects his quiver and bow saying "Lucky. I got a tirade of protests from the brat. Had to walk off not to throttle him. Think he went to blow off some steam in the gym."

Chuckling at that, Sam shakes his head and looks around. Not seeing Rhodey or Scott he gives Tony a questioning look.

"Babysitting." Tony explains, nothing more is needed to be said really.

With three young Avengers under their wing they are keen to make sure the trio are not left to their own devices, nothing good will ever come from that. Especially with a hotheaded, impulsive and hyperavtive Pietro, a stubborn and impulsive Peter and a temperamental, sometimes unstable and unsure Wanda.

As the quinjet takes off, they are all strapped in and steeling themselves for what they might be facing. Many scenarios running through their minds, they fall silent as Natasha gets the jet up in the air before moving it forward into the direction of Fury's location. Tony in particular now thinks on Peter's words, it could indeed be alien. It definitely would be worthy of a Code Red. Loki was one, so was Ultron. Perhaps this will prove itself to be an even bigger threat.

Feeling a little panic rise up from the pit of his stomach at the thought of space and alien races, Tony is glad he is wearing the mask.

"Boss, are you alright? Your heart-rate rose rapidly within the last two minutes." Friday's voice speaks into his ear.

A little alarmed, Tony forces himself to calm down and not let it get the best of him. He learned to cope with the panic attacks better over the years, but they never seemed to fully go away.

"Yes Friday." he tells her then, earning a few curious looks from the rest of the team. "Any news?" he's quick to ask to change the subject.

"Several casualties, ETA requested." Friday answers him which he repeats to the team.

"About twenty minutes." Natasha is quick to answer and speeds up the jet to make some more haste seeing as there are already several casualties.

* * *

_**Well here it is, my first ever story I actually published. Please feel free to leave reviews. I probaly wont alter much of it but always will read suggestions. This story has over 300 pages already so I will have plenty of material to add to it. Still finding my way around the site and how to exactly do this. I feel the need to explain a few things tho so it will make sense in reference here and there in the chapters. The story takes place 8 years after NY, 14 months after CW and is 2 months after Hulk got rescued after being kidnapped by an alien race with the aims to turn him into their personal living weapon through torture and any other means. I do not own any of the characters, apart from an OOC. Also, Pietro lived, just barely, but lived after Sokovia. Bucky and TChalla are still in Wakanda at this time but will join at a later time. Along with a slew of others.**_


	2. Bring in the cavalry

**Warning: **Chapter contains violence.

_This chapter is a long one, hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Meantime Fury has seen what been happening to the agents trying to take on the girl and is making his way over, stunned at the carnage. Having counted 10 casualties so far, Fury is eager to prevent more agent from dying. If he can stall long enough for the Avengers to arrive then they may have a shot

Perched on the back of the young and scared agend as having him pinned down on the floor on his stomach, the firl is toying with him it seems. A firm grip on his hair, holding his head up and a dagger to his throat, the girl leans down finally speaking up.

"Where is Fury." she asks him, her voice giving an even clearer indication of her being still very young.

One would not have taken her as a serious threat if she had not just proven she is very capable of mass-murder and is very powerful.

"Right here." Fury speaks up, having arrived in the room.

Trying not to look at the absolute chaos she unleashed onto his agents he stares at the girl instead, observing her. Many thoughts go through his head. Analyzing her powers and appearance, her combat techniques and state of mind. It doesn't add up how such a young girl is capable of these actions.

Seeing Fury stand in the doorway, the girl tilts her head a little as he spoke up then smiles. It's not the kind of smile you want directed at you, it being a sinister one, amplified by the feral look she has in her green eyes. Looking at the agent's terrified stare, Fury aims to safe his life by negotiating. Following his gaze, the girl looks at the agent and back, curious what Fury's move will be.

"I'm Fury. You found me, so let him go." Fury tells her, holding his hands up somewhat to placate her and to show he's unarmed.

Letting out a little snort, which can be taken as a scoff or amused sound, the girl eyes Fury not blinking as cutting the agent's throat in a swift strike. Clenching his jaw tight in anger, Fury knows he stands little chance against her abilities but needs to stall and get info.

"Where is Loki." the girl now asks, standing up from the now twitching and gurgling agent before he expires in a final gasp.

"I thought you wanted me? Now Loki? Should I feel hurt?" Fury asks her, puzzled why she's asking about Loki, who hasn't been on Earth since Thor took him to Asgard after NY for sentencing.

"You know his location. Where is Loki." the girl repeats, her tone more venomous.

Nearly wanting to ask her why she'd think he knows where Loki currently is, Fury stops himself. Clearly she's under the impression he can tell her or take her to him, he can use this misunderstanding to his advantage. Thinking quick he nods.

"I do. I will take you to him. Just don't kill anyone else, there's no need." he tells her, playing along with her game for now.

* * *

Heading down a hall, Fury is leading the girl to where she thinks Loki is. Wary and not trusting him whatsoever, she keeps a fair distance from Fury which he's using to his advantage. Leading her to the lower parts of the building he's signaling to one of the cameras to keep away for now so there won't be more casualties. Turning his back to the girl isn't wise but since she believes him to know where Loki is, it's unlikely she'll kill him before he shared the information with her. Glancing behind him occasionally to make sure she's still following him he gets to the basement level. Growing increasingly more suspicious and impatient, the girl narrows her eyes and teleports in front of Fury.

Holding a hand up with the green fire forming on it she says "Where is he. You're leading me for long enough."

Stepping back a little, Fury gives her a forced stoic look and glances at the fire.

"Neat trick. He's near, I'm leading you to him. You don't really think we'd let him walk around freely after his mass murders do you? We're not that stupid." he tells her calmly and gestures down the hall.

Narrowing her eyes as observing his body language, the girl calculates her options before dissipating the fire. Giving him an expectant look then she lets him walk around her and continue to lead her on.

Coming to a rather hi-tech looking hallway, Fury internally counts to three and lunges at a switch on the left wall, turning away to shield his eyes. The hallway floods with a light resembling the brightness of a welder's flame, blinding the girl. A slamming sound follows as walls appear from hatches on either side of the hallway, forming doors in front and behind the girl, trapping her. Still trying to recover from being thoroughly blinded, the girl yells out in anger. Unable to see and the lights still being on she can't see what's happening nor can she find any shadows to use, making this trap even more efficient. Feeling the ground under her feet disappear she falls down and hits a metal floor with a loud thud. The bright light fading she carefully opens her eyes, reeling from the after effects.

* * *

As her vision clears she sees she's in a square room about 2 by 2 meters and 2 meters high, the walls made from a type of glass, lined with patters and symbols she doesn't recognize. Seeing Fury appear on the other side where a type of door is located she jumps to her feet and summons her daggers, ready to maul the trickster. But nothing forms in her hands, confusing her into looking at them.

"Well, isn't that just a pain." Fury comments, seeing her confusion.

Snapping her head to look at him furious she tries her fire instead, when that fails she tries to teleport and any other magic based abilities she possesses. Realization hits her then; none of it works.

Catching on that she connected the dots, Fury speaks up again. "Too bad, none of that will help you now. This chamber is special made for villains like you. Sucks for you, you fell for it."

Letting out a loud growl in rage, the girl catches Fury off guard as it resembles what can only be described as a higher pitched growl of a jaguar.

"What the.." Fury mumbles and watches her lunge at the glass only to be shocked and blasted back as her hands come into contact with the glass, which has an electric current running through it.

Dazed she scrambles up and groans a little trying to recover from the amount of electricity that coarsed through her thin body. Using this moment, Fury moves to a control panel nearby and pushes several buttons, then flips a switch. The chamber fills with a soft hissing sound as it starts to fill up with a gas up to the ceiling. Coughing, the girl tries to get away from it but is trapped and shocked again when bumping into one of the glass walls. Waiting a few minutes, Fury watches on as the girl drops to the floor unconcious.

Being joined then by a team of agents and agent Hill Fury glances at her and back to the chamber. Activating fans in the ceiling of the chamber he has the gas cleared from it then speaks up.

"Restrain the girl with chains and titanium bands. When she wakes we'll interrogate her."

* * *

Stirring from her unconcious state, the girl notices people around her and jumps into action immediately. Beyond shocked, the two agents near her that were in the process of binding her arms and have only seconds before finished, stare at her. Finding her arms stuck across her chest she looks down at them, seeing each wrist is chained and secured at her back. Titanium binds going from each shoulder across her chest further immobilize her arms, making sure she can't possibly use them.

Fuming, the girl looks at each agent as they stare back tense and nervous about what her next move could be. Darkening her look she moves inhumanly fast and ends up on the shoulders of one of the agents. Clamping her upper legs around his head in a vice grip she makes a sudden twist, causing his neck to make a loud snap. Jumping from the now lifeless body she turns to the other agent who's aining a gun at her. Moving too fast to be hit directly, she kicked at the gun which caused the bullet to hit the glass instead, leaving a small dent. Twisting her body and shifting weight to her other foot she uses her other leg to kick the agent in his spine directly. A loud snap and scream follows which is cut off by the sheer force of the kick having snapped him in two internally.

Outside the chamber panic followed as she was expected to wake up in an hour or so, not mere minutes. Forced to watch her kill two more agents, Fury shouts commands at the others to get more binds and gasses the chamber again. Growling low, the girl tries to fight it but slumps down unconcious once more.

"Isn't the gas supposed to be strong enough for comatose sleep?" agent Hill asks, still gaping at how the girl managed to still commit murder.

"Yes. In _normal_ humans." Fury tells her and steps closer at the gas filled chamber. "I'm not so sure she's an Enhanced" he continues then, as first having expected they are dealing with an enhanced human like Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

"Alien?" agent Hill asks, joining Fury's side as looking at the three motionless shapes in the chamber.

"Perhaps." Fury answers and goes to turn off the gas, having let it be present for longer in the hopes she'll stay under for longer this time.

* * *

Waking up in a seated position this time, the girl notices her legs are immobilized. Sitting forcefully cross-legged she lifts her head to see she's left with two agents at the door. Fury is nowhere to be seen, nor are any other agents but the two. Grunting a little as struggling against the binds she finds them not budging whatsoever. Thinking on her options she glances at the agents facing her.

Observing both of them she looks at the more senior one giving her a cold look. He seems in his fourties, his eyes showing a self control and calmness. He's good at keeping himself in check, possesses a discipline over mind and body. His whole appearance screams self control to her. Looking at the other agent she sees he's several years younger, mid or early thirties. His eyes are not calm, they show anger. She notices some beads of sweat on his forehead and him blinking often, he's nervous. Out of the two, he's her best chance.

Closing her eyes she focuses her mind deep down her core. Going deep in her own mind she gathers her energy around her, fighting against the powers that nullify her abilities currently. Knowing all she needs is a spark she pushes as hard as she can, straining her mind and body. Gathering all the energy she can into a single focus point she looks at the nervous agent, her emerald eyes shifting to a darker shade, turning black gradually. As he stares back at her she knows she trapped him in her gaze, it's all she needed from him.

Feeling his mind fog up and her command invade his mind, his eyes glaze over to a vacant stare. Hearing her voice echo in his head and feeling her take control of his body he moves almost zombie-like to the control panel. Starting to push buttons the agent alarms the older one immediately into yelling him to stop and try to snap him out of it. Seeing his words get no response the agent forcefully tries to remove the mindcontrolled agent, ending up getting tossed across the room for his effort.

Scrambling up, the agent stares dumbfounded at the amount of strength the younger agent displayed suddenly. Aiming his gun at him he again tries yelling at him to stop as the distinct sound of the door mechanism draws his attention to the chamber. All the color leaves his face when seeing the door is now opening and the younger agent heading towards the door. Heading over to the panel he starts to frantically close the door to prevent the girl from escaping. Seeing this, the girl is livid he's foiling her plans of escape and turns her gaze back to the younger agent realizing she has mere seconds left. Turning all her focus into one action, her anger giving it a massive boost in energy, she stirs the room's shadows into taking revenge on her behalf.

Seeing the door close the older agent lets out a sigh of relieve but this is short lived as she now notices movement in the room. Watching shadows enter the younger agent, who has now snapped out of the mind control, the older agent tenses and is thoroughly confused by what's happening. Letting out a painfilled scream the younger agent grabs his head in clear agony and drops to his knees. Rushing over to him the older agent looks him over, trying to help somehow and supports the now twitching and squirming agent. Panicking, he watches on as the younger agent starts to bleed from his nose, eyes, ears and mouth, gradually increasing in severity. Going motionless soon after, the older agent shakes him several times to try and get a response before checking his pulse. Feeling no heartbeat the agent hangs his head in defeat.

Hearing a chuckle, the agent looks over to the girl fuming. A derranged stare and a sadistic grin greets the agent, further infuriating him. Seeing the tears pooling from his eyes now, the girl slightly tilts her head in curiosity. Standing up, the agent snarls at her losing all self control at her amusement.

"You _killed_ him! He was my _brother_! You bitch! I'll kill you myself!"

She doesn't seem to be taken aback by this news nor the display of rage and simply watches him run to the control panel. There he slams his hand on the button to fill the chamber up with gas again, aiming to kill her when she's knocked out. Watching on, he waits a very long time as the gas filled the chamber fully, exposing her to it far longer than she has been until now. Aiming to make sure she'll stay under for a long enough time he watches on before making way over after opening the door, then readies his gun.

Bursting through the door seconds later, Fury shouts commands to the agents behind him to stop the fuming agent. Tackling him to the ground and getting him away from the girl they drag him off kicking and screaming.

Looking the girl over Fury curses under his breath, he then turns to look at agent Hill over his shoulder. "Get a doctor here _now_!" he tells her and looks back at the girl.

* * *

"If that idiot's actions ends up killing her we'll never have the answers we need from her!" Fury says in a heated tone as pacing the room as two doctors are currently checking up on the girl.

The prolonged exposire to the gas has left her skin deathly pale, a sheen of sweat glistening on her skin and her breathing labored. They have blindfolded her to make sure she won't be able to use her eyes to entrance anyone else, but they are more focused on not letting her die at this time.

"We don't know the effects it will have on her. A normal human wouldn't have been able to wake so easily from it like she did when first exposed. Clearly she is not normal." one of the doctors tells Fury as monitoring her slow heartbeat.

"The excessive use of the gas may or may not have left her mind and body in a delusional and damaged state. We don't know." the other doctor adds and looks over as Fury comes to stand in the doorway of the chamber.

"Prolonged exposure is lethal to humans. It may have left her comatose, but so far she's breathing. We have no exact data to know how she will respond over time." the same doctor adds.

"Well find out the data then, run tests, examine her, do _something_!" Fury demands immediately.

Turning his attention to the group of agents that head into the room, Fury eyes them as the leader speaks up.

"David is contained and sedated, sir."

Meaning the would-be killer agent they hauled off. Giving a quick nod Fury looks over to the doctors again.

"What are you two waiting for?" he demands and glares as they quickly take their leave with some blood samples they took from the girl to start running tests.

Gesturing to the girl Fury tells the team of agents "Get her up, see if we can wake her back up. She should have awoken by now."

Two agents head inside the chamber and hoist her up into a seated position, one on each side of her. It takes them holding her up as her body keeps limp and hunched over, seemingly still unconcious, her breathing shallow. She however has woken and is intently listening to what is being said, keeping completely limp meantime. Having cought on to their concern she's slowly dying she plays along with it. She definitely feels the effects of the exposure, but is nowhere near the dreadful state they think she's in. Listening closely she pinpoints agents outside the chamber and two of them inside, as well as Fury not far from the chamber.

Waiting for the right moment, she doesn't have to wait long as a female voice calls the attention of the room. Recognizing the voice by now as being that of agent Hill, the girl listens as hearing her say.

"The team is almost here"

Curious who she means, the girl turns her attention to the agent holding her body to her left side. Letting out a barely audible groan, she draws his attention to her while making sure the rest is unaware of her being concious. Parting her dry lips she carefully whispers as quiet as possible to lure him closer. He falls for it rather easily as he's eager to get answers from her for Fury, letting his curiosity lead him. Feeling him move and his scent coming closer, the girl uses her excellent senses to pinpoint his exact position.

As if time moves in slow motion, Fury glances over to the girl and sees the agent leaning his ear over to her mouth to hear her words. Immediately Fury shouts for him to get away from her as attempting to speed over. Mere seconds too late he sees the agent's face distort into a pained expression, then sheer terror. Having parted her mouth wide the girl used her only remaining weapon, 4 razorsharp fangs on the corners of her jaw, sinking them deep into the agent's neck. Feeling the wave of blood cascade over her chin, chest and mouth, down her tongue and throat, she growls in feral instinct.

The agent goes limp soon after, blood simply having gone everywhere. Chaos ensues as Fury tells the other agent in the chamber to get out and helps the others drag out the body.

"Get a muzzle!" Fury tells a few of them and withing minutes they are holding down a more than wildly squirming girl as they put a half-mask on her.

This covers her mouth and nose with several holes where her mouth is so she can still breathe and speak. Arching and hunching her body, twisting it in painful contortions she tries to fight off her assailents.

"What the... " Fury mumbles then as hearing her even more feral growls and could swear he sees her eyes light up with greenish light under the fabric of the blindfold.

* * *

Arriving at the building, the Avengers land the quinjet and exit with weapons drawn. The building's exterior doesn't show any signs of the attack as they look around carefully.

"Friday, scan the building for damage, casualties and lifeforms." Tony instructs her and looks at the rest as they wait for the reply.

"Six identified agents located on basement level room A11. One agent located in a cel, room C15. Agent Maria Hill and Director Nick Fury located in control room 2, basement level. Four identified agents and three technicians located in control room 2, basement level. Unidentified lifeform located in containment chamber, basement level. Seventeen casualties confirmed. Building exterior intact for 95%. Building interior intact for 71%."

Listening to her words the team is both puzzled and shocked at the info.

"Seventeen?" Bruce wonders out loud, already having been tense since the alarm to assemble sounded, pulling him from his lab work.

"Seems we are dealing with a single person. Unless that incarcerated agent has something to do with it as well." Steve says then, not wanting to think too much about the casualties. Looking over to Bruce he continues "Stay here for now, we still have no clue who or what we're dealing with."

Nodding, Bruce is used to hanging back in missions, so not to take risks with hulking out and losing control. Heading back into the jet he makes sure his com is working properly and activates the monitors on the jet's control panel, logging in to the building's cameras.

"Seems they put the cube to use." Tony mentions, pleased to hear his invention has been put to good use and proved to be an asset so far.

Contacting Fury, Steve speaks up "We're here."

_"Took you long enough. She's contained in Stark's cube. Basement level. Get your asses down here."_ Fury's voice responds to their coms.

Ignoring the jab as knowing they hurried to the scene as fast as possible, the team make their way to the location quickly.

* * *

Arriving at the basement level, the elevator opens up to Fury and agent Hill waiting for them in the hallway. Gesturing to them to follow with a head movement, Fury starts to lead them over to the chamber room.

"What's going on Fury." Natasha is first to ask him, having noticed how on edge he seems, which doesn't happen often.

"About thirty minutes ago we got attacked by a single individual. Whole teams of agents were no match for her. It took me outsmarting her to get her trapped in the cube where we proceeded to bind her. She still managed to kill a further seven agents after trapped." Fury explains in somewhat a strained tone, ticked off as summerizing the events.

"What? _How?_" Steve asks in disbelieve of the latter part.

"The cube should have prevented that. It nullifies abilities and magic!" Tony argues, not making any sense of it.

"It _does_. She's ... smart. We gravely underestimated her. Stupid idiots..." Fury explains, trailing off and shaking his head at the agents and he himself having let their guard down too much.

Perhaps the quiet and the absence of major attacks has lulled them into a false sense of safety, and today they paid dearly for it.

Heading into the room containing the chamber, Fury steps aside gesturing to the girl seated in the middle of the chamber. Walking closer, the team's faces sport a mixture of confusion, shock and sheer disbelieve. A stunned silence took over the team as they observe the girl, the chains, titanium binds, blindfold, muzzle and... the blood coating the floor, walls, ceiling and the girl herself.

"Uhm..." Tony is the first to say and opens his helmet to reveal a dumbfounded expression.

"Is.. that a small alien? Or a ... _kid_?" Sam asks, taking in her thin and small form, trying hard for his brain to catch up. The combination of visual imput doesn't make sense to him, the blood and potentially mere child should never be in the same image. Yet there it is, right in front of him.

"I've seen some bad stuff... but _this_..." Steve quietly says, seemingly in the same state of mind as Sam currently is.

Fury says nothing at all however as simply observing their reaction.

"_This is the attacker...?"_ Bruce's voice asks in their coms, having watched and listened horrified at the sight as well.

"Yep." Fury simply says and gestures for the team to follow him.. Leading them to the control room nearby he dismisses the agents and technicians present and turns to agent Hill. "Take over the monitoring and get me the footage of the attack until the time they arrived." he tells her and gestures for the team to take a seat at a nearby table.

Leaving quickly, the agents and technicians cast glances at the Avengers, clear relief on their faces at seeing they have arrived.

Taking seat, the team looks over to Fury expectantly.

"Trust me, I didnt know some young girl capable of it either but.. you saw the aftermath in the cube. And that blood.. is from a _single_ agent." Fury explains and rubs his head frustrated with his inability to prevent it.

Widening his eyes a little, Sam drops his jaw in shock.

_"H-how?"_ Bruce is stammering, unable to comprehend this.

"Severed his jugular vein." Fury says in an even tone, staring at a spot on the table as the agent's death flashes before his eyes.

* * *

Silence took over the room for a few minutes as they let it sink in before agent Hill speaks up.

"I got the footage, boss. I'll send it to the main monitor."

Nodding, Fury grabs a small remote nearby and turns on a large screen near the table, specially placed for reviewing footage. They turn to directly face it and Fury shows them the footage from the moment the girl breaks into the building through a door. They watch on as the girl is quick to attack the first agent she comes across, which alerts the others instantly.

"Crude work." Natasha states in response.

To which Clint nods. "Very. She caused immediate attention to herself. Not much of an infiltration." he points out, having noticed the same errors in her technique.

Hearing the girl ask for Fury directly, and with this they hear how young her voice sounds, the team is now even more puzzled.

"So she's after _you_?" Tony asks, glancing at Fury before falling silent seeing the girl go into full attack, making many casualties.

Studying her, they stare at the monitor as the girl uses her agility, speed, strength, endurance and combines it with her clear advanced training in combat and magic based abilities.

"That's new.." Tony remarks, seeing her use of smoke-like teleport and shadows with interest.

Seeing her be held at gunpoint, they somewhat hold their breath and watch on as the horrible fate of the agent unfolds before them. Almost unable to take the sounds of the screams the team is rapidly paling. They remain silent as watching her take on a trio of agents next.

"Did.. she just summon daggers?" Sam asks, his eyebrows raised high then looks away from the carnage she unleashes upon the trio.

"She did." Natasha simply says as she continues to study the girl.

Seeing her then use a decoy illusion to trick the left over team of agents and guide their aim towards it while attacking them from behind, Steve is next to point out what he observes "And illusions." Glancing at the rest of the team Steve sees they also caufht on to this and seem to have the same sneaking suspicion they seen all that before.

Watching Fury appear in the doorway of the room as the girl is perched on a pinned down agent and ask him for Fury, Natasha speaks up again. "She's toying with the agent. And noticed you too late. Sloppy. She's impulsive and reckless, lacking experience."

Looking over to the redhead, Fury nods slowly. "It worked in our advantage I guess. She could have killed dozens more." he says, though shudders at the thought alone.

Narrowing her eyes, Natasha sees the girl kill the agent even after getting what she wants. It wasn't needed, but in the mindset of an assassin she understand her reasoning. He's a liability, a witness, an opponent left alive. By killing the agent she took out a potential threat.

The team then frowns in clear surprise when they hear her ask where Loki is.

"Loki?" Clint asks, caught off guard by this and looks over at Fury for an answer.

"_Why would she ask **you** that?_" Bruce asks, just as surprised.

"No clue. The last I saw the guy was when Thor took him with him to Asgard for sentencing after the battle in New York. But playing along worked in my favor." Fury explains and gestures to the monitor as saying this, as she's following and ends up trapped.

Shielding their eyes from the light the team carefully looks again to see the girl now in the cube.

"She's not like any enhanced or assassin we've dealt with so far." Tony points out as rubbing his eyes to get rid of the blindness a little annoyed.

"I don't believe she's an enhanced." Fury admits, causing some of them to look at him curiously. Simply gesturing to the monitor he says "You'll see."

They look on as the girl snaps out of her daze and realizes she's in the cube, immediately followed by her attempting to use her powers.

Smiling pleased, Tony sees that indeed the cube nullifies her abilities as intended. And is even more pleased at the confusion present on the girl's face when realizing she can't use her powers anymore. Hearing Fury mock her, Tony grins wide but this vanishes as soon as he hears her let out the growl and sees her lunge at the wall. As taken aback as he is, the rest of the team have confused expressions on their face at the sound as well.

"She's not harmless, even with the cube cancelling her abilities." Natasha points out, to which Fury nods knowingly.

Looking at Tony then, the rest watch him chuckle amused when seeing the girl blasted from the electrified wall.

Seeing all eyes are on him he shrugs a little. "I'm sorry but that's funny. I love that feature." he says in protest and ignores the glare Steve directs at him in annoyance.

Not finding it appropriate to laugh at, Steve shakes his head sighing softly but refrains from speaking up.

Watching the rest of the footage, the team goes dead silent and pale, seeing what she's done even after contained, proving she is lethal beyond words.

* * *

When Fury shuts off the monitor he turns back to the team and observes their subdued and horrified expressions. Hearing about it is one thing, seeing it with their own eyes however.. that's another thing entirely.

"She has no soul.." Steve says quietly, leaning forward on the table, a pained expression on his face as confronted with the carnage.

"She feels nothing for the lives she takes." Natasha points out, leaning back in her seat, her arms crossed as mulling the information over in her head, her look serious and void of emotion. The coldness the girl shows reminds her of when she was but a young girl herself, training to be an assassin in Russia. Taught to show no emotion, no mercy, no compassion, to feel nothing. She was older than the girl however when first send out into the world to carry out executions and other missions.

Such a young girl is thoroughly taught to be this way, someone made her like this. Someone send her after Fury. And that someone is under the impression Fury knows where Loki is. Unfortunately both Fury and Loki have a lot of enemies, which makes the list of potential culprits rather long.

Glancing at Natasha, Clint has an inkling of what's going through her head, having learned to read her subtle bodylanguage over the years.

"I'm not putting her in Ross' custody. The Raft is not going to work." Fury says after giving them some further time to process it all.

"You're _not_?" Sam asks in disbelieve, not having expected Fury to dismiss the idea.

Leaning forward in his seat and regarding the team fury shakes his head speaking up again. "No. That cube is better than anything they have there, and she still managed to kill. I am _not_ willing to let her kill anyone else. The Raft is the most secure prison on this planet, but after seeing all that.. You know that putting her in there is us asking for more casualties."

"Well where else can we contain her?" Clint asks, unable to really argue with the risks Fury pointed out but not seeing any better options.

"Wait. You're not putting her in the custody of the army?" Tony intervenes, surprised by this news.

"No. I don't trust the army to be capable of containing her. Even if we personally build something there to properly imprison her. Look, someone clearly send her, trained her, weaponized her. I don't trust the army not to want to do the same thing. You know what happened with Strucker... Smidth.. Pierce.. There have been men like that throughout history. I'm not willing to take the risk, more blood would be spilled." Fury tells him, his tone and expression heated, making clear he's adament about it not being an option.

"Then where? Here?" Clint asks, more insistent to get his question answered this time.

Shaking his head, Fury lets that be his answer as rubbing his chin in thought.

Getting a look of realization on his face, Steve speaks up. "There is no one but us strong enough to contain her."

The rest catches on as well due to his words and look from Steve to Fury who nods.

"You are Earth's mightiest heroes." Fury states and turns to Tony. "How soon can you have a cube constructed at the Facility?" he asks him.

To which Tony instantly throws his hands up defensively and loudly protests "Whoa whoa.. wait just a minute here. We didn't say we agree with this ludacris plan!"

"We are the only option though." Clint points out, not liking it any more than Tony does but knows they have to face the facts.

"No one else will be able to protect everyone else form her, Tony." Natasha adds stoically, forcing herself to remain in full self control.

"So what about the people we're supposed to protect that are at the Facility? You just want to put this... this derranged animal in a cage nearby?" Tony retorts, an incredulous look on his face as feeling nothing for this idea.

"With all of us there it will be the most secure place possible. And with you constructing an upgraded cube attuned to contain her specifically, with taking in mind all we now know.. You'll know how secure it is first hand as you're the only one capable enough to construct her prison, Tony." Steve says in a calm tone, turning to Tony.

Tony nods, knowing he has a point, he can't deny that. But he's still not very willing to submit to the idea just yet.

"None of us like this idea." Sam points out, though has accepted there's no better option to turn to.

"With Vision returning later today we'll have even more backup to contain her. It's the best we can do. She cannot possible take on all of us and win, especially with her bound like she is." Steve continues to point out to which Tony again nods, he does know Steve's right but is unable to accept it so easily.

"We're all against having that girl near them, Tony." Clint quietly says, knowing why he's so against the idea.

Glancing at Clint, Tony can see by the look on the archer's face that he understands Tony is being protective towards the teens in their care, as well as the civilians and other innocents located at the Avengers Facility. Sighing deep, Tony rubs hus face in frustration with the entire situation.

"We'll keep eachother safe. As always." Steve reassures his friend and teammate, fully understanding why he's having such a hard time with it. "And with a sufficiently upgrade cell and safety measures taken..." Steve adds and let's it trail off.

"There's something else." Fury then says, getting their full attention immediately in alarm. Leaning forward, he chooses his words carefully. "I've.. observed something I feel the need to point out. And I'm sure you all picked up on it as well by now." he starts and looks at each of them briefly before continuing "Daggers.., green magic, teleportation, hand-to-hand combat.. illusions.. " Observing their reaction as he lists it off he carries on. "Magic.., black hair, green eyes..."

Catching on, Tony is quick to say "Loki!"

"Are you saying that girl in there is Loki?" Clint follows suit, having noticed it but remained unconvinced.

"Please tell me that's some kinda cruel joke." Sam states, having a sinking feeling in his stomach as realizing now how similar Loki and the girl are. Not having faced the trickster god himself, he doesn't possess the knowledge on him like the rest of them do. But he knows enough about him from stories they told him. Enough to know to be tense after realizing Fury is on to something.

"No. But she reminds me of him. Enough to make a comparison. I don't think that's him at least. But i can't be sure it's not. Thor would be the first to know if Loki was up to no good. And it doesn't make sense for Loki to ask about his own location." Fury declares in an even tone.

To which Clint retorts "You _hope_ Thor would. He's done one over on Thor and his people before." Having been under mind control at Loki's hands, Clint knows best out of all of them how far Loki goes with his actions. He fully expects him to be capable of tricking his brother and father into thinking he's behaving himself.

"True." Fury admits, Clint has a good point.

"I see the resemblence, but also a lot of differences we can't ignore. Her technique is different, her abilities as well. But the main thing I picked up on is her inexperience. Loki is a schemer, a tactician and genius level intelligent. Far more intelligent than that girl in there. She made critical errors and acted in a.. feral, a reckless manner. She is highly trained, but lets her emotions and impulsiveness drive her. Whoever send her was a fool to do so, she's not ready." Natasha points out, managing to still surprise the rest with how observant the spy is, able to read people on such an in-depth level.

"Good point." Steve agrees and thinks on her words carefully.

"You know Nat, if I ever come face to face with Loki again.. I'm telling him you said all that about him." Tony jokes and proceeds to chuckle lightly at the glare she throws his way.

"Nat's right though." clint states, ignoring Tony's joke to keep the conversation on track.

"I think we'll have to contact Thor. That way we can make sure the girl isn't Loki, as well as update him on the events. Clearly she's powerful.. even above any enhanced we've come across. Maybe Thor can offer advice, or ask Odin. Who knows, maybe they can offer assistence somehow." Steve now says, leaning back in his seat with a thoughtful look gracing his face. Seeing the others nod in agreement, Steve turns his attention to agent Hill instead. Seeing her still watching the monitors like a hawk, he glances at the girl.

Feeling eyes on her agent Hill says "No change, she hasn't moved position at all." Making sure to speak loud enough for the rest to hear as well, she draws the attention of the room.

"At _all_?" Sam inquires and moves over to take a closer look at the girl.

"Apart from breathing, no movement." agent Hill confirms.

"She's waiting." Natasha explains, it would be her response as well when bound and chained like that, blindfolded and muzzled on top of it. And left in a room, a prison, with no powers available.

"For what?" Sam asks, looking over his shoulder to Natasha.

"Probably our next move." Clint anwers him however, looking at the monitors as well.

* * *

_Here it is, Chapter 2! Plenty more to come after this. Please leave a review, let me know what you guys think. Chapter 3 won't be too long a wait, I promise. Any questions, let me know as well._


	3. Teenage Temper Tantrums

**Warning: **Chapter contains crude language.

****Disclaimer:** _I know the twins are Sokovian and I wasn't sure what language to go for. I chose russian, I don't speak it and please don't think I'm accurate. But for the story it works so I went with it. Also, TChalla is currently overseeing Bucky's therapy trying to undo the damage HYDRA did to him in Wakanda and they will not be joining for a while yet. They figured it wasn't the best idea to try and attempt this over at AF with the tense situation with the team having been opponents at one point. They have settled their differences and have grown much closer and their friendship much stronger, but this isn't the case with Bucky/TChalla and the rest yet. Stress seemed a bad addition to Bucky's already massive problems so they kept the two of them out of it. As for Thor, he hasn't visited Earth since Ultron as he has his hands full with Loki. If I need to go into depth about what Loki's sentence entails please feel free to let me know.******_

* * *

Having started to make some arrangements, the team and Fury decided their only option really is to deal with the girl personally. But before officially taking her into the Avenger' custody they decide to call the absent teammembers. Collectively they decided to spare the teens and Pepper the traumatic experience of seeing the footage. Pepper _is _however given a summary version of the events so far and is aware what will be happening. They however did send the footage to T'Challa and Bucky in Wakanda, as well as Rhodey and Scott at the AF, they call the four and put them on speaker.

Having joined the rest at the monitor room, Bruce is seated at the table nervously, staring at the monitors to keep an eye on the girl. Hearing Bucky speak up, his eyes dart over to the phone that's on speaker on the table.

"_I don't like it any more than you guys do, but we __**are**__ the only option ..yea."_

"I still want to know what we're dealing with before we relocate her." Tony states and looks at Bruce. "There must be tests we can do." he adds and gives him an expectant look.

"Yes. But that will take time. Blood needs to be taken, scans run, xrays, observations... All that can't be rushed." Bruce points out and thinks on what all can be done to get them the information they need.

"_So clearly not an option to be done before taking her to the Facitily."_ Rhodey now speaks up and continues. "_We'd best get cracking on that cell over here, Tony. We have all we need to run those tests at the Facility, getting her secured is the priority."_

Rubbing his face with his hands, Tony lets out a disgruntled groan. "So we're really doing this then?" he asks, his voice making very clear he's against the entire idea still.

"We have no choice." Steve states in an even tone, frustrated with the billionair's resistence against doing what's best for all.

"Not true. Disposing of her will solve all our problems." Tony points out, only half joking.

Looking at him incredulously, Bruce says "You're not serious..."

Looking at his science bro, Tony shrugs lightly in response.

_"Look, I know you're probably not serious Tones, but since when did we become executioners?" _Rhodey says, sounding less than pleased.

"Plus, you're not stupid enough to kill the only person with valuable intel we need. And who clearly is a puppet in a much bigger game. How will killing her assist us in the situation in any way?" Natasha makes clear, glaring at Tony's foolish reasoning.

"We don't kill unless we have to. We have always attempted to capture and have justice deal with enemies, not be our own judge, jury and executioners" Steve reminds him quickly, not understanding why he even needs to do this.

Throwing his hands up in exasperation Tony argues "Fine! _Fine_..! I know all that! Jeez guys. Fine. Let's do this the _hard_ way."

Natasha sighs, her look softening a fraction as she leans forward, resting her elbows on the table. "I have a feeling she knows no better than to carry out commands. I'm not saying that makes her innocent, far from it.. But.. there is more to it than 'she kills so we kill her' " she says and glances at Clint as he's trying to read her to know what she's thinking.

"We're not killing anyone. Not after we got answers from her either, it's not what we do and we're not going to start now either." Steve says, adament to avoid going down such a dark path.

"Exactly." Clint agrees and continues "She'll get a trial, like everyone else we've faced. Even Loki got one. Whatever we'll find out, we'll deal with it."

Many of them nod at this, those on speaker voicing their agreements as well.

"Right. So, what's the plan?" Fury asks, wanting to make it official as soon as possible and get to work securing the girl to avoic any chance she can cause more casualties.

Taking the lead as unofficial leader, Steve sits up straight and speaks up. "I suggest Tony and Bruce start on the cell's construction, the sooner this is finished the better. Rhodey and Pepper can take care of the safety measures and upping the security over at the Facility. Whatever legal papers need signing, I'll take that on me."

"_What can we do?"_ T'Challa asks, as Bucky's therapy is far from completed still and it will need his and the Winter Soldier's full attention. But he still wants to help out if he's able to either way.

"Focus on Bucky for now." Steve tells him, not needing to think on that.

_"I can contact Hank Pym, maybe he has ideas or can offer help in some way."_ Scott offers, thinking on his feet.

Humming in approval at this Steve replies "Thanks Scott, that'll be great."

Turning to them with a Starkpad in his hand, going over the blueprints of the Facility, Tony speaks up with a serious look "The best location to build the cube would be near, but not _too_ close to the living area. We can reinforce the structure at basement level using 6 foot steel walls. Build a room with those walls around it and construct the cube in its center."

His mind going at a million miles an hour calculating and inventing the entire thing in his head he stays silent for a few seconds before continuing "I'll have cameras installed all around, at every angle, plenty of light so we can see what she's up to. The gas doesnt seem to be doing all that much, maybe a new formula is needed. Add that in... scanners.., motion sensors, infra red... xray... " Continuing to mumble to himself mostly he then moves, places, deletes, builds and changes the blueprint, constructing a building plan rapidly.

* * *

Having gone back to HQ, ergo the Avengers Facility, Bruce and Tony are currently overseeing and building the room with a team, Tony's robots and Friday's assistence. T'Challa has managed to pull some strings to supply them with vibranium for Tony to infuse the frame of the cube with, making it indestructible.

Scott has been making calls to Hank Pym whiles still keeping an eye on the teens, especially now Rhodey and Pepper are occupied with making arrangements with the Facility's security and staff. As well as anything else they can assist with making the place ready for a dangerous prisoner being near them.

Scott has however failed to notice Peter's been eavesdropping using his suit's mask, from since he found it too difficult to go aftter the team with 3 adults watching. So opted for this approach instead. Having heard the conversation between the Avengers and Fury over the speaker as well as having heard the sounds of the footage and the comments Scott and Rhodey made in response of seeing it, Peter has heard far more than they wanted him to.

"Okay, thanks Hank." Scott says and hangs up the phone, checking the time then before sighing deep. He wonders if they really are doing the right thing by bringing the girl over to the Facility, and who could have possibly send her after Fury.. or Loki. He, like Sam and a few others, has never personally dealt with Loki, so he's not able to really determine if the girl is or is not similar to the god like the others can. But he shudders at the idea of it being a possibility, however small. Which in turn makes him think of Thor as well, he, T'Challa, the teens and Bucky have yet to meet the God of Thunder. As exciting as that meeting would be, Scott also feels his stomach knot up at the thought alone.

Deciding to check on the teens, Scott heads towards the twins their rooms down a long hall when something catches his eye. It was only in his perivoral vision but enough to draw his attention. Turning to the source, or at least where it was he gets a suspicious look on his face.

Heading into Pietro's room where he was sure he saw movement he knocks on the door before opening it and finds all three teens scattered around the room. Frowning at the sight of them suspiciously trying hard to look casual, Scott raises an eyebrow.

"What are you guys up to?" he asks, sounding cheery on purpose, not one to be on their backs too much as there are plenty of the team that have that more than covered.

Pietro appears to be panting a little, as laying on his bed reading a book, which he's holding upside down of all things. Peter's hair is sticking every angle and he has a wide eyed stare on his face before forcing himself to act relaxed. And Wanda is flipping through a magazine, seated on the foot of the bed, bopping her head at the music from the radio nearby.

"Nuffin" Wanda decides to anwer, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

Humming low, Scott doesn't buy it. Spotting Pietro's book he chuckles lightly and says "Well, make sure you don't get caught and aren't pushing your luck. Also, reading usually isn't done with the book upside down, Quicksilver."

Startled, Pietro quickly turns the book the right way round and looks at Scott a little sheepishly. Relaxing a little, Peter continues to be amazed at how laid back Scott is and lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in.

Scott merely chuckles amused at them and seeing they probably weren't up to anything too bad by the looks of it, he lets it slide. "Come get some lunch soon though, guys." he then says and leaves the room to head to the kitchen to fix himself something.

Whenever the bulk of the Avengers is home they insist on having their meals together, it having become a real thing over time. It gives them a sense of stability and comfort and a way to bond, as well as time for chatting about issues and the day's events. With only the four of them currently at home, Scott isn't sure if to go for it or not. It's been quiet enough for most of them to be home at least for one or more of the meals, this is the first time since moving in that it's been this empty at the Facility.

* * *

"Did he see you?" Wanda asks Pietro after she's sure Scott left their hearing range.

"Impossible." Pietro smugly retorts, positive he can't be seen.

"Not true, you do see like this... afterglow stuff when you run by remember?" Peter argues, getting up to check if Scott left the hallway after opening the door a crack.

"He looked suspicious at you."Wanda points out accusingly, pointing at her twin.

Shrugging, Pietro says "Meh, he doesn't care. Nice hair by the way, Spidey." Grinning at Peter then, he watches amused as Peter checks the dresser's mirror and tries to straighten it out.

"Shouldn't have pulled the mask off so fast." Wanda tells him, also grinning at Peter's attempts to tame his wild curls.

"Well, I couldnt exactly have him see me wearing it all casual like." Peter defends himself, huffing a little indignant.

"I totally saved your ass. You welcome." Pietro points out then with a smug look over having used his speed to carry Peter into his room before Scott would have seen his sticking to the ceiling, listening in.

"_You're _welcome." Peter corrects him and gets flipped off by the older teen for his troubles.

"So what else did you manage to find out?" Wanda asks Peter curious, hoping to be updated on the events going on.

"They're building a prison room here at the Facility to house this girl that attacked director Fury and agents. Tony and Bruce are back here to do it apparently. They're gonna contact Asgard too. And seems like they don't know what she is yet." Peter tells her, a concerned look on his face.

"I don't get why we're not included in this. We can help too." Wanda complains, not happy about it whatsoever.

"We'll talk to them when they are back, make it clear we can help. We're not kids." Pietro says determined not to accept their benching any longer.

Nodding in agreement both Wanda and Peter head out of the room followed by Pietro to go get some lunch.

* * *

Seeing the trio appear in the kitchen and start setting the table, Scott smiles. Apparently they've decided for him whether or not to have lunch together so he starts setting the table as well.

Several minutes later they are seated at the dining table eating an assortment of fruit, bread and some soup left over from the day before. Inhaling the food as usual, Peter ignores the amused looks he's getting from Scott. He's used by now to get those looks from the amount of food he eats as his metabolism is much higher. Just like it is with Pietro on the other side of the table, doing the same thing.

Looking over to Pietro with the same look Scott then shakes his head chuckling. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that." he then says and takes another bite of his sandwich.

"When are the rest coming back?" Wanda asks, not willing to wait any longer with addressing the matter.

Looking at her, Scott feigns feeling hurt. "What? Am I not any fun to hang out with anymore?" he jokes to which Wanda rolls her eyes.

"We want to know what's going on. Why did we get told to stay? We can help too." Wanda instead says, her face determined to get answers.

Wincing a little and sighing, Scott hoped he wouldn't be the one confronted by them on the matter. Rubbing his neck a little awkwardly he looks at each of them. All three stare at him, identical expectant looks on their face as waiting for his answer.

"Well, we don't know exactly who or what we're dealing with yet. So we're being careful." Scott tries, hoping they accept this as an answer. But the disgruntled glares the trio now direct at him tell him otherwise.

"We are _not_ useless, we can handle ourselves! And we can help too, you're all pushing us aside like our powers don't matter!" Wanda argues, starting to get angry.

Holding up his hands Scott quickly responds "Whoa .. whoa, no one said you kids were useless. Look, I'm not the best person to explain this okay? You all matter, we're just being carefull since you're still in training so it would be an unnecessary risk to take."

Standing up abruptly Pietro speaks up next, his tone thick with anger and frustration "We are _not_ kids! We can handle ourselves. We have even _before_ you people took us in! You treat us like deti! Do not kutat us!"

Leaning back at Pietro's burst of anger, Scott stands up as well. "Calm down, I'm not sure what you just said but I got the jest of it- " he tries but this further angers Pietro.

"**_Do not tell me calm down_**! Poshol ti nahoo! I done with shit!" the teen yells, his accent having the tendency to be more prominent when he gets at a level of anger like this and is simply fuming.

"**_Pietro_**!" Wanda snaps at her twin, gaping at his words. She is used to his temper but it's been long since he resorted to downright swearing and exploding like this.

Ignoring his sister, Pietro simply takes off using his speed to do so.

"Pietro! Stop acting like a damn toddler!" Scott calls after him annoyed he blew up over nothing in his eyes and then turns to the remaining two teens.

"Pietro is _not_ a toddler! You are all being unfair! He is right, you treat us like deti... baby! We could also seen footage and helped think and contain girl, but you treat us like deti! You treat us less than Avenger. We_ are_ Avenger! You.. you all eblan!" Wanda yells at him, her eyes flaring red with anger.

"Wanda.. _shit_!" Peter gasps, hearing her give away they know far more than they should in her anger.

"Wait a minute.. how..." Scott is now saying, catching on to what she said.

Realizing, Wanda widens her eyes and quickly reaches to Peter, gripping his arm and teleporting them in a whirl of red to get away quickly.

* * *

Ending up next to Pietro who ran into the nearby forest to blow off steam, Wanda lets go of Peter who is stumbling dizzily.

"Next.. next time warn me .. please." Peter complains and sits down on the forest ground waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Looking over to the two, Pietro is panting and sweating a little from the run, having pushed his body hard to get out some anger.

"Was no time to warn you." Wanda tells Peter and paces a little, biting her nails.

"What happened?" Pietro asks her in response curiously, seeing the state she's in and doubting it's cos of his angry yelling.

Pausing her pacing, Wanda turns to him with an awkward look. "I.. may have said too much to Scott. But I was angry too!" she explains to him.

"Oh." Pietro says, not exactly happy.

"Do you think he caught on fully?" Peter tries, hopeful maybe Scott doesn't fully realize they been listening in.

"Pretty sure. And I yelled at him too." Wanda says, nodding at Peter.

"What did you two say anyway. What does 'eblan' mean?" Peter asks curous to find out the extend of trouble they are in.

Looking at Wanda with raised eyebrows Pietro starts letting out a loud laugh then asks "You called him an eblan? That's brilliant!"

Looking at Peter grinning, her twin's amusement and take on it making her feel more at ease "Yeah well calling them shitheads is better than to tell him to go fuck himself, Pietro" Wanda retorts though lets out a laugh as well.

Gaping at both, Peter is rather in shock at their swearing at Scott and finding it amusing on top of it. "You really said that?" he then asks Pietro in disbelieve at the bravery, as well as stupidity and disrespect.

Shrugging casually at Peter's disbelieve Pietro nods and acts like it's no big deal. "They deserved it for how they treat us. We are not babies, we proved ourselves in Sokovia. We proved ourselves in Germany. It's not right they push us aside now." Pietro explains, anger rising in his chest again.

Nodding, Peter can't argue with that but isn't entirely happy with the way Wanda and Pietro went about it. And even himself, he was the one listening in, using his suit. Steeling himself he then focuses on how unfairly the three of them are being treated. Pietro has a point, they proved themselves in far more dangerous situations in his eyes so it makes no sense they are shunned.

* * *

Approaching the cube the girl is currently still sitting in the center of, Natasha observes her. The girl has been sitting still in the same position for hours now, her breathing even and somewhat shallow.

Moving closer, Natasha lets her presence be known freely to the girl to see her reaction. Hearing her footsteps and her breathing, the girl keeps still on purpose. Squatting down, Natasha stares at her then looks at the blood covering the area.

"There was no need to be so violent." Natasha then says, her tone even and void of emotion.

Twitching just slightly, the girl indicates she's listening closely.

"Defending yourself doesn't require killing your opponents every time. Overkill is never needed." Natasha continues, looking for any and all reactions. Her being blindfolded, muzzled and bound makes this rather hard, but she tries to read her anyway.

"Whoever send you is a fool. Your training is insufficiently done." she then says, aiming to test her loyalty to her 'boss' and see if she will defend him or her from insults.

The girl however doesn't react to this at all and to the untrained eye it looks as if Natasha is talking to the equivalent of a brick wall.

"You will not be killed." Natasha tries, expecting the girl to perhaps wait for execution seeing she is caught and imprisoned. She may be expecting this to be their next move. And Natasha is proven right that this is the right thing to tell her as the girl tilts her head a little.

Feeling confused by this news, the girl tries to process it and figure out why they would keep her alive.

"You expected death?" Natasha asks her, hoping this created an opening for her to get answers.

The girl has the urge to nod to this but stops herself from doing so, knowing not to answer anything when interrogated by enemies.

"Suit yourself. You won't be going anywhere. We have time." Natasha tells her casually, having gotten what she needed; to see her reaction to her presence.

Standing in the doorway, Clint watches Natasha stand back up and head away from the cube. "Got anything?" he askss her softly and glances behind her at the girl.

"Not yet." Natasha answers and heads out of the room.

Looking at the girl for a bit longer, Clint moves closer to the cube himself. "Don't think we'll allow you to harm anyone else. Not even Loki." Clint tells her firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

The girl however catches him off guard when she snaps her head towards him directly.

Tensing up a moment, Clint then relaxes as studying her. "Something got your attention? You're angry we're not letting you kill anymore? Is that it?" he inquires, not sure what part of his sentence got this response from her. Hearing footsteps nearby, Clint looks over his shoulder seeing Natasha came back when hearing Clint's words to the girl seemingly got a response from her.

Narrowing her eyes a little, Natasha observes the girl as well, a thoughtful look soon gracing her face. Leaning closer, the spy grins when realizing what got this response, they just found her trigger. "_Loki_..." she says in a tone hinting at a subtle tease and immediately the girl turns to face her, a low growl rumbling in her throat. Smirking, Natasha looks at Clint pleased with having found a method of approach.

Surprised, Clint smirks as well and makes a head movement to indicate they should leave.

Both turn then and leave the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the girl in silence once more.

"Well, someone has a _serious_ dislike of Loki." Clint jokes as chuckling, please with the progress they just made as he joins the rest in the control room with Natasha close behind.

Looking up curiously from the papers he is signing, Steve raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

"She spoke?" Fury now also curious, asks the archer while putting down the files he was reading and looks over as well.

"No, but it was enough to make it real clear." Clint tells them and takes seat next to Steve, glancing at the papers.

Having watched on, Sam and agent Hill both turn away from the monitors now to look at Nat and Clint nodding pleased with their success.

"Can't blame her for it, though I wonder what he did to her. Merely mentioning his name seems to anger her." Natasha states, smiling pleased with such an easy trigger.

"I dont care for Loki either, all he put me through.. Especially the brainwashing. I'm glad he's in Asgard.. or whatever planet they are on right now.. so long it's not here. But, even I don't respond like she did. It must be something big he did to her." Clint points out and thinks on what Loki could have possibly done to her. It had to have been done before the battle of New York almost 9,5 years ago. As since then Thor has been watching his every move for as far as Clint knows.. which is part of Loki's sentencing.

"We'll get answers somehow." Steve declares and gets back to signing the rest of the papers.

* * *

Some time later Clint and Natasha been reviewing the footage several more times with Sam while Steve finished up the papers with Fury. Bruce and Tony been making a lot of progress with the cube and room and occasionally checked in to discuss things with Steve and the rest.

Feeling his phone vibrate as discussing a plan of approach with the girl, Steve digs it out of his pocket. Seeing it's Scott he picks up, a little surprised as why he'd call him so soon. "Hey Scott." he greets the man with.

"_Hey.._" Scott answers and pauses, not sure how to continue.

Frowning, Steve is used to Scott being quite talkative, sometimes to the point of rambling, so this silence sends his alarm bells ringing. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Steve asks quickly, drawing the attention of the room to him.

"_Uh.. yea.. Is Clint there with you too?_" Scott asks, not feeling much for having to explain things twice.

"Yeah, Clint's here.. Hold on, I'll put you on speaker." Steve tells him and does just that, placing the phone in the middle of the table. "Go ahead Scott." he then says, feeling increasingly concerned at what might have happened.

"_Well yea.. um.. We have a problem.. I been trying to fix it but yea.. uhm.. no luck. I really didn't want to have to call you guys since you're on a mission basically..._" Scott starts, his hesitence dripping from his words.

"What's the problem? What happened?" Clint asks, now just as concerned as Steve.

"_They uh... ran off. And I can't find them. So yeah... 'problem'._" Scott explains, immediately alarming the entire room.

"What?!" Clint snaps, making Scott jump at the other end of the line.

"Why? What happened before they ran off?" Steve asks quickly, the teens having done this several times since they took them in. As in the beginning of living with them they were far more rebellious, but haven't for quite some time now.

_"I'm not exactly sure. They were up to something when I went to check on them, but I let that slide though.. But then they blew up when we talked about them being excluded from today over lunch. I hoped they would wait with asking about it and leave it up to you to explain, but they confronted me with it. Pietro completely blew up, I don't know what he said really, it was in his native tongue. But it seemed to shock Wanda for some reason, guess it was that bad. Pietro ran off, then Wanda started yelling and grabbed Peter and teleported them to who knows where." _Scott does his best to explain.

"Damn it!" Clint snaps, ticked off by the situation. They just had to act out while the team are trying to deal with a lethal threat and therefor not able to address it right away.

"Clint.." Steve says calmly, trying to convey to calm himself down some and watch his words. This being because they agreed to watch their language cos of them being rolemodels, it being expected from the teens to refrain from swearing entirely. As well as Steve having a real dislike for crude and disrespectful vocabulary.

"_There's something else.. Something Wanda said._" Scott continues when having gathered his courage again after the jump scare of Clint's anger.

"What did she say?" Steve asks, leaning closer to the phone more alarmed, focusing completely on listening to Scott.

"_She mentioned that they could have been shown the footage and help with the girl. Which I took as them having listened in or hacked something to find that out without our knowing._" Scott explains though is very apprehensive about doing so.

Fuming, Clint stands up and goes for a walk to blow off steam and think on the situation, leaving Steve and the rest to deal with the call.

Sighing deep, Steve runs his hand through his hair in clear frustration.

There was no need at all for them to behave this way. Had they simply waited for their lead they would have been filled in on what's been happening and their questions answered. But they took ut upon themselves to go about it by throwing tantrums, possibly hacking, anger and impatience. If nothing else, they just reminded the adults that they are in need of a lot more training and have a long road of maturing ahead of them.

"Well.. we made the right choice with keeping them out of this. I thought they were more proffessional than this." Sam says with a sigh, feeling disappointed about their choices.

"This is why they are still considered Avengers-in-training. With good reason." Natasha states, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face.

Nodding in agreement, Steve sighs deep once more and speaks up "Their actions are beyond irresponsible and immature.. Scott, is Tony made aware yet?"

"_No, I figured to tell you guys instead since he's building that cube and room. I don't want to cause any loss of focus."_ Scott answers, though not sure he did the right thing with that as Tony is closest and able to use his suit to locate the teens.

"Okay, I'll fill him in, thanks Scott. Keep looking for them, we'll call you later." Steve tells him, purposely keeping calm even if internally he's fuming and concerned about their safety at the same time.

* * *

"Hah! Look at that. And you said that it wouldn't be possible." Tony says in a smug tone, looking very pleased with himself when getting the program to work the way he wants.

Scoffing Bruce shakes his head as looking over the program. "I said it's not the priority and we needed to finish the cube itself first, not the same thing." Bruce corrects him.

"Potato, potáto.." Tony says dismissively and turns to tinker on the walls of the cube when his phone rings. Using the earpiece he's wearing he picks up with a simple press on the device. "Yellow" he says cheerfully and works on some wiring in the frame of the cube.

"_Hey Tony_" Steve's voice answers on the other side of the line.

"Hey Capsicle, what's up?" Tony continues and puts the tool he's using between his teeth as he fidgets with the wiring panel.

"_Tony, the teens ran off. Scott can't find them._" Steve tells him, letting the mocking name slide.

Getting shocked by the wires, Tony drops the tool and puts his finger into his mouth to soothe the electrified digit. Turning away from the panel Tony's face is now a mixture of fury and worry. "Wha-what?!" he demands and his face grows more furious as he is explained what exactly happened. Letting Steve relay what Scott told him and the rest, Tony then lets out an angry rumble.

"I'll look for them. Call you when I've arranged their funeral." Tony finally says and hangs up.

Having watched Tony's face in alarm, Bruce is quick to ask "What's going on?"

Rubbing his eyes in frustration and anger, Tony groans and throws his hands up. "The twins and Peter threw a fit at Scott and took off. And apparently took it upon themselves to find out what's going on by either hacking the system or eavesdropping. Either way they made it clear being excluded from the assembly needed a retaliation." Tony explains, sighing and wanting to hit something or someone out of frustration and disappointment in their actions.

Facepalming, Bruce then shakes his head in disapproval before gesturing to the cube. "Guess this will have to wait?" he asks then and looks at the team of people assisting them.

"I'll make it quick as possible." Tony reassures him and head out to get into his suit.

* * *

_**Chapter 3 already! Yea this one is a little shorter but it worked out better stopping here and keeping the next part for the upcoming chapter. Please review, as they are always appreciated! Anyway have an awesome day and Chapter 4 won't be long!**_


	4. Long distance call

"Fiday, remind me to implant these three with tracking devices or something.. This is a pain." Tony tells his AI as flying over the forest in his suit, trying to locate the runaways. Having tried Peter's mobile, then those of the twins he learned it's futile as none of them are picking up. Not even an override worked as he tried this just in case Peter decided to ignore the call.

Having decided then to use the GPS tracker on their phones Tony initially was relieved to see they were all in one spot, not far from the Facility in the forest. But his relieve was short lived when finding the three mobiles stashed away in a trunk of a tree. Apparently they ditched them to make sure they couldn't be located.

"Sir, tracker implants may not be a bad idea. However, in the wrong hands they would fall prey very easily." Friday points out to which Tony hums.

"Good point. But it would have made all this avoidable. I could have dragged their sorry asses back home already." he grumbles more than annoyed.

With Wanda's teleporting and Pietro's speed, who knows where they could have ended up already.

"Sir, call from Captain America." Friday informs him then, drawing his focus away from the worry gnawing in his stomach.

"Put him through." Tony instructs and listens as he continues the search.

"_Any news yet, Tony?" _Steve asks hopeful, knowing Tony would most likely have called the moment he found them but his worry got the better of him.

"No, I haven't found them yet. I found their phones however, conveniently ditched to avoid the gps giving their location away" Tony informs him somewhat snarkily. "I swear Steve.. those.. ugh!" he continues, not even able to form a proper sentence due to his anger.

"_They what.._" Steve's voice says, having dropped down to a dangerous low tone.

Wincing on their behalf for managing to piss of one of the most patient members of the family, Tony is glad not to be in their position.

_"Hold on."_ Steve then says and some discussions go on in the background before Steve speaks up again. "_Sam is heading back, he'll get Rhodey. Clint and Nat will use the city's CCTV cameras to look for them. Call May and Peter's friends, maybe they went there._"

Scoffing a little Tony shakes his head. "Peter wouldn't go to May, he'd get his ass handed to him.. Wait, she'll be at work at this time.. Maybe he's stupid enough to persuade the twins to go to his house. Let me check there before you send people back to HQ" he tells Steve and changes direction immediately to head to May's house.

"_Sam already left, using his suit. You'll need help if they decide to scatter. Unless you are planning on using your suits as drones." _Steve tells him then, Tony can't argue with that.

Pietro is a star in doing a runner, he has had the habit from the very start to bolt from situations and confrontations. Usually Wanda followed right after her twin, partially for solidarity and part to make sure he's okay. Peter however hasn't run off more than once or twice so far so Tony is even more upset with the spiderling, wondering what's gotten into him.

* * *

Ending up at May's house in record time, Tony is careful not to approach yet. Having Friday scan the building for the teens he's informed they aren't there. Sighing disappointed, Tony tries to decide where to check next.

He'd rather not call Ned or MJ, Peter's friends, as wanting to keep them out of Avenger business as much as possible. Nor does he want to alarm May unless needed. But running out of ideas where they could be most likely, he's starting to learn towards the idea to try everyone and everything.

"The hell are you kids thinking..." Tony mutters to himself and decides to call Rhodey.

_"Tones, any luck?" _Rhodey is quick to ask as picking up the call in his Warmachine suit.

"Nope. No sign of them." Tony tells him and though his anger is prominent, the fear and worry is starting to take over.

With the attack on Fury, what if there was more to it? What if that girl wasn't alone after all? Maybe the teens running off was convenient for someone to make their move?

Letting out a strangled noise of panic as his thoughts go haywire, Tony's heart starts to race.

"Sir. You seem to be nearing a panic attack. I suggest you focus on your breathing." Friday is quick to instruct which in turn makes Rhodey aware of his friend's state.

_"Tony. Tones, calm down. We'll find them" _Rhodey reassures him and fills Sam in on what's happening before connecting the call to Steve and the rest using their coms. Conveying the info to them as well he then focuses back on Tony.

_"Tones, breathe. Think rationally. Just... breathe.." _Rhodey tries again, feeling better with having the rest rallied behind him now.

"_Tony, we're tracking them down here too. We'll find them." _Nat is next to speak up as she and Clint are hard at work looking through the footage of CCTV that stands out and perhaps captured the teens.

"What if someone snatched them? That kid could have had backup all along and played us!" Tony argues, which only increases his panic to a point he starts to feel lightheaded.

_"Tony, calm down.. You're not helping yourself. Breathe in and out slow.. focus on your breathing, nothing else." _Steve now tells him, feeling horrible for Tony having to deal with these panic attacks still when under a lot of stress. Despite feeling just as worried about the teens, the super soldier knows he needs to help Tony calm down first and foremost.

* * *

Having managed to mostly calm Tony down and focus on finding the teens, the team finally catches a break in the form of Sam who was flying over a lake, going with a hunch.

Spotting a blur of silver mist race by near a park overlooking the lake, Sam follows it the best he can from a distance. Watching it stop abruptly he sees it's indeed Pietro, as he figured.

Almost unable to believe his luck, Sam watches as Pietro walks over to Wanda sitting on a bench, Peter near her seated on some monkeybars.

"Found them. They're at the park near the lake. They're perfectly fine." Sam informs the rest as they stayed on call with each other, and he hears a multitude of relieved sighs.

"_On my way." _Rhodey is quick to say.

Followed by Tony "_They won't be 'perfectly fine' for long."_

Wincing at the tone of Tony's voice, Sam almost feels for the three, were it not that they spend ages looking for them and worrying. All the while having to focus on this instead of the girl and perhaps would have already transferred her to HQ.

Maybe even having filled the teens on what happened and why they excluded them from joining. All this could have been avoided had the teens shown more patience and responsibility.

Thinking on all this, Sam suddenly feels a lot less sorry for them.

Waiting for Tony and Rhodey, Sam points out where the teens are and is kind of happy he can't see Tony nor Rhodey's faces due to their suits. He can only imagine the glare Tony must be spotting. Not sure if they will bolt the second they realize they've been located, the three approach the teens carefully.

Deciding to hang back for now, Sam and Rhodey watch from a distance as Tony lands before the teens so not to startle them too much.

"Okay, party's over kiddos. Time to go home." Tony tells them in his signature joking tone, despite his boiling rage over their stunt.

If he starts yelling at them from the get go they will definitely bolt. The more lighthearted approach seems to be the better choice in this case, for now. Jumping to their feet, all three teens tense up and look at Tony warily.

Feeling a little hurt at the response, even from Peter, Tony sighs and holds up his hands calmly. "I'm not going to yell at you three. At least not now, not here." he reassures them, hoping it will calm their nerves.

But it only seems to make them suspicious.

"Why not? I thought you'd explode or something." Pietro scoffs, starting to feel more confident and smug seeing he won't be confronted by Tony seemingly.

"I'll explode later, don't you worry. Right now I just want to get you guys home safely, cos you worried the crap out of all of us." Tony explains still in a calm tone, hoping to placate them.

Hearing this, Peter feels guilt rise up in his chest rapidly. He hadn't really thought about their actions worrying the team as he focused on his anger and frustration instead. Looking down ashamed, Peter realizes his mind was too pre-occupied with being mad at them to see past it.

"We scared you..?" Peter softly asks, despite not really wanting to hear the answer to that.

Landing beside Peter on the monkeybars, Sam overheard his question and nods. "Yeah you did. You three worried and scared the whole family by running off like that. Especially with all that's going on right now." he explains, though his tone is calm and friendly despite the situation.

Wincing as if it physically struck, Peter sits back down on the monkeybars looking down at his lap rather forlorn as fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie.

Scoffing, Pietro has a completely different reaction to this. "Well if you had included us from the start we wouldn't have done this. So you brought it on- " he smugly says before Rhodey cuts him off, landing behind the blonde teen. Feeling a hand on his shoulder Pietro turns around.

"Don't you dare pin this on us, kid. We didn't make you stay home because we think you inferior. We didn't for the hell of it or to treat you as less than us or any other reason to get angry over. None of our decisions today warrented you to get so angry you ran from home." Rhodey says firmly in a matter-of-fact tone, having worried as much as their official guardians have.

And the fact Pietro is attempting to justify their actions is not something he will hold his tonue over. Even if he doesn't have a guardian or parental role in their lives much, Rhodey cares fot them deeply and is protective towards them. Even if it's protecting them from their own foolishness.

"We didn't _make_ you run off after throwing a tantrum like a bunch of immature brats!" Tony adds to that, his disbelieve at Pietro's audacity to try and blame them for it making him no longer able to keep his cool.

This angers Wanda however, prompting her to lash out yelling "We are _not _brats!" Even if she does feel guilty over having worried the team, her anger is still winning right now.

"I beg the differ, missy." Tony responds in a curt tone, crossing his arms as eyeing her.

Deciding to try and calm down the situation and mediate, Sam speaks up. "C'mon guys, let's just have this discussion at home. Let's get you to safety and we'll explain things there, alright?" Hoping to keep every from blowing up he looks around at the others.

By the look on Wanda and Pietro's faces they are pretty close to start yelling again, not good. About to try more mediation Sam gets cut off by Pietro throwing off Rhodey's hand from huis shoulder before snapping.

"Let go me! I'm not going until you explain! _**NOW**_!" His anger and demanding tone as glaring at Rhodey catches the rest off guard.

Having remained quiet and listening up til now, Clint can no longer hold his tongue. "_Excuse me?" _his voice pipes up in the com of the adults before he continues. "_Tony, put me on speaker somehow. I need to have a word with mouthy."_

Tony gladly and easily obliges, then says "Go ahead Barton, he can hear you now."

Turning to look at Tony a little startled at his words, Pietro regrets his words somewhat as he wasn't aware the others were listening.

"_Listen here you little brat, you've done enough already. I __**strongly **__advice you to start following the team's orders and get your butt home asap before I completely obliberate it. You're in a shit ton of trouble as is! If I have to come down there and drag you home personally, so help me God Pietro, you will not find a safe place to hide in the entire galaxy from the whoopin' you'll get!" _ Clint's voice snaps over the speaker eminating from Tony's suit, causing Pietro's smug attitude to vanish instantly.

"N-no! You exp- " Pietro tries to argue, not willing to submit to Clint's will so easily.

"_Did you just tell me 'no'? Did you just seriously-.. " _Clint snaps, his tone making crystal clear he's fuming an unable to form coherent sentences cos of it.

Stammering, Pietro backs away from Rhodey and Tony, trying to desperately find back his bravado. "You.. you explain now.. you.."

Reminding them how hard-headed he is with this it's also clear he's losing his nerve fast.

Clint knows best how stubborn the teen can be in a battle of wills as having done this dance with him countless times. And because of this, he also knows how to bring it to a quick end. "_**Pietro Django Maximoff!**_" He snarls, not caring it sends those with a com their ears ringing.

"Ow! Dude..!" Tony complains, covering his ears with his hands over the helmet, despite it having zero effect.

Paling, Pietro seems to be torn between bolting and peeing himself on the spot, starting wide eyed at Tony as that is where Clint's voice eminated from.

Wanda, seeing her twin's state and kbowing this isn't going anywhere pleasant for any of them, moves to Pietro's side. Taking hold of his hand gently she looks up at him saying "Pietro, please. Let's go home... please."

Taking hold of her hand back in response to her calming touch, Pietro looks down at her seeming to consider it.

"I think I've gone deaf.." Sam complains as taking his com out of his ear and rubs it in pain before looking at Peter beside him.

The kid looks as guilty as humanly possible, his eyes still on his lap.

Worried now, Sam gently bumps his shoulder against Peter to get his attention as sofly speaking up. "Hey.."

Peter doesn't look up or at Sam for more than a second of sideway glance nor does he say anything.

Frowning at this determination to keep his eyes down, Sam feels bad for the kid's battle with clear guilt. Even if they only have themselves to blame, Sam isn't blind to their distress and anger.

Maybe they could have done a better job with making the three understand why they were to stay back for now, despite having very little time to do so when assembling and heading to Fury. But they are expected to follow orders, especially during an assembly and a threat. It doesn't give them the right to throw a fit and run off when they don't agree with an order.

Softening his look as seeing the pleading expression on Wanda's face, Pietro calms himself down. Seeing this, Wanda knows her twin is ready to back down so she looks over at Tony.

"You.. will explain at home?" she asks, seeming to be rather hesitant as if expecting to be yelled at by the man.

Picking up on the hesitation, Tony decides to show her he's not planning to rip into her and the boys at this time so he calmly nods saying "Yes, we will."

Letting out a breath she was holding in, Wanda feels clear relieve.

"But don't think you are in any position to bargain any deals." Tony adds to that, aiming at him expecting them to obey even if they don't promise to explain things.

Shaking her head a littlle, Wanda indicates she didn't ask it with the aim to bargain and sighs in defeat. Realizing that Clint most likely isn't the only one listening in she now realizes Steve is aware of everything too. "Steve.. he's listening too?" she asks no one in particular in a quiet tone, her anger having been drained for the most part.

_"Yes, I am." _Steve's quick to answer her in person.

She responds with a sharp intake of breath, having noticed his curt and even tone. He's holding himself in check, she's familiar with this by now.

He is not one to yell and snarl, but he definitely feels anger and disappointment like any other. He'll never treat Wanda coldly or unfairly, but his even tone never ceases to unnerve and upset her nonetheless.

Swallowing and taking a moment to gather her thoughts she says "We.. are you.. Did I .." Unable to form the words she really wants to say she gives up and shakes her head dismissively. "We're ready to go home." she instead says softly.

Feeling for his sister's distress, Pietro gently squeezes her hand reassuringly and nods at her words. He shares the feeling of guilt, but is still shifting between denying and accepting the blame for their actions.

_"I know that's not what you wanted to say, Wanda. We will talk at home, okay?" _Steve tells her, his tone slightly friendlier. He is very disappointed in their choices, but he would never turn them away or turn his back on them, no matter what. He takes Pietro's impulsiveness into account, knowing it's partially stemming from his enhancement. Same as Wanda's emotions being influenced by her enhancement. It makes it that much harder for them to not act out. But, he needs the team to be trustworthy and follow instructions to keep everyone safe, including the youngest members.

They are still being trained and still have maturing to do, and because of all this, they need to listen to the adult members. Not following orders, especially concerning their safety puts everyone in jeopardy, and running off crosses a line that should never be crossed. So the team has every reason to be angry at the wayward teens. Especially since it's not the first time they did this.

"Right, let's go home then."Tony says, breaking the silence that took over the group.

"Not to be the bearer of bad news, but how are we gonna be sure they stay put this time after we got them home?" Rhodey points out however, not trusting them to suddenly do as they are told.

Looking at him a little hurt, the twins aren't happy with this as they just said they would do as told basically. But at the same time they can't really deny that Rhodey has reason to distrust them. Their word is not enough after their actions. Confronted by the effects their stunt caused they look at eachother worried they severely broke the team's trust in them.

"_They will."_ Steve states, not expecting the teens to disobey orders so blatently any time soon knowing how much trouble they are already in. And having realized they scared and worried them all on top of that.

"They will." Tony agrees and eyes the twins who nod quickly. "Because they aren't stupid enough to try this again while already in deep shit." Tony adds matter of factly to which the twins nod again. "Good." Tony finally says and walks over to Peter. "Right, underoos?" he asks him directly as Peter has neither nodded nor spoken up in agreement at all.

Looking at Tony briefly, Peter lowers his eyes again and nods.

Giving Tony a concerned look, Sam makes clear he's worried about the kid.

Only nodding curt in acknowledgement, Tony grabs hold of Peter's upper arm and gets him down from the monkeybars. Turning him around then so Peter's back is against his chest, Tony activates the passenger straps he installed into his suit shortly after taking Peter under his wing. The iron straps go across Peter's chest in an X pattern, securing him in place.

"Ready?" Tony then asks Peter, who again just nods. Sighing softly, Tony then takes off in the direction of home.

Turning to the twins, Rhodey beckons Pietro and uses the same function on his own suit, though has rarely ever used this feature. Leaving Wanda to Sam, he secures Pietro and nods to Sam before taking off. "Just keep still okay." he instructs Pietro as launching, not all that comfortable with a passenger.

Watching them for a moment, Sam turns to Wanda, offering her a soft smile. "Hey." he greets her, seeing her nervous stare. "You've done this before, I wouldn't let you fall. And you've been learning to fly lately right?" he reassures her but she shakes her head.

"It's not that." she explains and sits down on the bench near them.

Taking seat next to her and turning off his com for now, Sam says "You feel guilty as hell. It's pretty clear. Without trying to sound like a jerk, you brought that on yourself, kid."

Wanda is quick to agree, letting out a long, deep sigh. "I know. We were just so angry. We are Avengers too! Why did you all tell us to stay home? Aren't we supposed to come with when there's a threat? Does the team not trust us?" She spills out all at once.

"No Wanda, that's not it at all. Look, I'd rather you talk about this with us at home. But I can tell it's really putting you in a state of distress. So I'll make you a deal. I'll explain it briefly, and we'll get to it in depth at home, okay?" Sam offers, hoping this will placate her.

Thinking on it, Wanda decides to agree and turns to fully face Sam.

"Okay. Yes, an assembly means the team. You are part of the team, same as us.. all three of you are. But in this case.. We haven't had a Code Red assembly yet since you teens joined us and we formed into one big team. Code Red is for very lethal threats only. Since you, Pietro and Peter are still in training we are careful with assigning you to the biggest threats. That doesn't mean you are expected to stay out completely. Nor does it mean we don't value your skills and presence. You're important assets to the team, but that doesn't mean you're ready to be right in the line of fire yet." Sam does his best to explain and observes Wanda's reaction.

"So.. we weren't told to stay home cos you don't trust us? Or cos you don't think we'd be helpful?" she carefully asks as trying to process it all.

"No hon. We didn't know what we're dealing with.. We still don't know entirely. Let me put it this way, you wouldn't put a student driver behind the wheel of an ambulance when there's an emergency right? Or a medical student in charge of a surgery? That doesn't mean that they aren't allowed to be there, but while still learning they are to hang back and follow the lead." Sam explains further, seeing Wanda's face drops as she feels even more guilty as now understanding their reasoning.

"To put it bluntly, not that you are like that, but you wouldn't let kids fight a war when you don't know who the enemy is." Sam adds and places his hand on her shoulder.

"No .. wouldn't." she says softly, looking down ashamed at their choices.

"We're responsible for you and the boys, we take that very serious, you know that. You may not agree with all our choices, but we're still the ones in charge and we know what we're doing." Sam continues and squeezes her shoulder gently.

"We really screwed up didnt we.." she asks hesitantly, picking at the bracelets on her wrist.

"Yes. But you can fix it. And it will be dealt with, then we'll move on." he tells her, choosing not to sugarcoat it.

Wanda stays silent as thinking on it, so Sam stands up and offers his hand. "Let's go home and discuss it later in depth" he tells her as waiting.

"Thanks Sam." she tells him before looking up at him and pausing before taking his hand.

"No prob." he tells her with a genuine smile and helps her get to her feet. Strapping her to his Falcon suit then he takes off with her as well.

* * *

Having gotten the teens home they let them watch some movies with Scott and Rhodey while waiting for the rest to deal with the mission and return home. This to keep them occupied and out of more troublemaking. Tony got right back to working on the prison room. after having filled in Pepper on what's been happening. Which prompted her to return home asap as well to have a word with the teens, angry with them but relieved as well.

Sam returned to Fury and the rest after having retrieved an Asgardian sigil stone from the Avengers Facility so they can contact Thor while waiting for Tony to complete the room with Bruce.

Heading into the building, Sam makes way to the control room and heads in. "Missed me?" he jokes to greet them and grins at Steve as showing the sigil.

"Yep, it was hell without you birdie." Fury replies and gestures for Sam to take a seat.

"Hey! **_I'm_** birdie. He's birdie 0.2. I was here _first_!" Clint says in a faked offended tone, having calmed down from his fury and anger now the teens are safe at home.

"Now now kids, behave." Nat says from the corner of the room where she's taking notes of all she's observed from watching the girl.

Smirking, Steve takes the sigil from Sam and takes a look around the room to see if the rest is ready to make contact.

"Are you sure you know what to do?" Clint asks curious, as they haven't really attempted this before.

Shrugging a little, Steve shakes his head saying "Tony has before.. But Thor explained it to me as well, it doesn't seem too complicated. But, I don't know for sure.." Placing it on the table he waves his hand over it. "Kommunisere Asgard." he then says a little awkwardly, feeling strange using the words.

Shimmering slightly, the sigil's surface starts to glow softly before it builds up slowly. Letting out a soft hum the sigil starts to emit a light like a projector above it, reminding them of something similar like a hologram.

After a few moments the image of Thor appears in the light and his voice comes through seeming to be talking to someone.

"Thor?" Steve asks tentative, not sure it worked properly.

"_Captain Rogers! To what do I owe this pleasure, friend?_" Thor's voice rings out as the image grows and starts to move.

Glad to see it's apparently working, Steve smiles wide in greeting. "Ah good, I wasn't sure I used the sigil properly. Good to see you Thor, in a way, it's been a long time since we spoke." Steve tells him, having rather missed the god.

"_It has! Are you all well?_" Thor is quick to ask, pleased to see his friend.

Leaning over to see Thor for himself up closer, Sam eyes the image of the god. "Whoa..." he softly says, earning him an amused look from Steve and then Thor.

Leaning over from the other side of Steve, Clint waves at Thor in greeting.

"You haven't met yet. Thor, meet Sam Wilson aka Falcon. Sam, meet Thor Odonson, God of Thunder." Steve introduces them, amused by Sam's starstruck gaze at Thor.

"_Barton, good to see you again. And a pleasure to meet you Sam Wilson. I have heard good things about you._" Thor responds with, having missed interacting with the rest of the Avengers.

"You too man, you're like a living legend!" Sam says before full and well realizing what he blurted out.

"Sam's your new starstruck fan it seems. Hi Thor." Natasha jokes and joins the rest, giving Sam a wink when he looks at her blushing slightly.

Letting out a hearty laugh Thor gives a nod to Natasha in greeting "_Lady Romanov._" he adds to that smiling warmly.

"To answer your question, Thor.. "Steve then says, drawing the Asgardian's attention back to him. Seeing steve's face grew serious, Thor in turn drops his smile a little and listens as Steve continues "We have been doing good and not good since we last spoke. Until today.. we were attacked."

Thor's face grows even more serious knowing they wouldn't really contact him about an attack. Unless it's something big that he needs to be warned about, there have been casualties, or it's something they weren't able to handle so far.

"Thor, where's Loki?" Clint bluntly asks, unable to contain his impatience.

Frowning surprised by this question, Thor looks at Clint. "_My brother? With me of course. As he has been since the start of his sentence. You are aware of this, why do you ask me this question?_" he asks him, a confused look gracing his face.

Giving Clint a 'what the hell' look for being so blunt, Steve shakes his head at the archer. "Will you at least let me explain?" he asks Clint, making it clear it's not really a question. He's not asking his permission.

"Sorry, but we need to know right?" Clint argues, not feeling all that sorry for jumping the gun.

"You could have tried some tact and patience, Clint." Steve tells him in a rather displeased tone in response.

Leaning back in his seat, Clint holds up his hands defensively, showing he'll hold his tongue for now.

"Thank you." Steve says then and turns back to Thor, who's getting rather impatient as waiting for someone to explain. Sighing softly, Steve starts to explains "Fury was attacked early this morning, there were many casualties. The attacker is currently contained in a prison Tony created for the most dangerous enemies. Fury has put her into our custody, as in.. us Avengers, since she is too powerful to be put into any other prison."

Listening closely, Thor nods occasionally before looking at Clint asking "_You think this dangerous attacker is my brother? That is why you asked for his whereabouts, is it not? Is that now the new norm, identifying powerful threats to be Loki? You know he is in my care, I am his guardian, he has not faulted in his redemption. Yet you are quick to accuse him. Are you seriously implying I have failed in my responsibilities as his watcher?_"

Hearing the heated tone Thor took on and is seemingly rapidly angering further, Steve clears his throat awkwardly. This draws Thor's attention back to him, now being on the receiving end of the god's dark glare. "No Thor, that is not what we are implying. We have reason to suspect there is a chance Loki is involved, and we want to make sure to rule out the possibility. Clint is just... as subtle as a sledgehammer.. " Steve explains, hoping to calm Thor down.

"We just need to make sure Thor, rule out all other possibilities so we can find out the facts." Natasha offers, hoping to assist with calming him back down.

Unconvinced, Thor regards her in silence for a few moments before looking beside him. Beckoning someone with his arm, he gets an impatient look on his face before speaking up. "_Brother, now is not the time to be hard-headed. Come._"

Hearing a sigh, the team watches Loki join Thor at his side, eyeing them. He has aged since they last lay eyes on him, his hair is much longer, his green eyes wiser and calmer.

Sam, seeing him for the first time looks at him intrigued, he's not what Sam expected him to look like.

"_As you can see, Loki is here. He has not left my sight since he was sentenced to his redemption process apart from when I assisted Midgard with Sokovia and the artificial being Ultron._" Thor explains in an even tone, remaining composed for now.

"And you are certain he has no access to his powers? As in, creating clones?" Steve tentatively asks, glancing at Loki briefly as he does so.

"_I'm right here.._" Loki's low voice murmurs, not pleased with being talked about instead of asked directly.

Regarding Thor expectantly, Steve ignores Loki as he rightly thinks the trickster god shouldn't be expecting any of them to believe him on his word.

"_He is bound by the All-Father. He has no access to the amount of magic required for such a feat. You have my word on this."_ Thor states, giving Loki a quick look and points at the golden band around Loki's neck. "_And I vouch for him, I have seen his action and choices since he has departed from Midgard. He is on the right path to redemption, friends. His efforts have not gone unnoticed by our people either._" he continues, determined to defend Loki from the accusation.

Having a subtle smile on his face, Loki isn't blind to how his brother has been acting around him over the years. They have grown close in the nine years, something both of them very much needed in their life.

"Thank you Thor, we had to be sure." steve finally says, deducting that Heimdall and Odin himself must have been watching Loki like a hawk as well. And Thor making sure to keep him in his sights further making the already slim chance even more miniscule, Steve feels reassured. He alreadt thought it was improbably the girl is Loki, and this further pushes him to make up his mind to dismiss the possibility.

Somewhat intrigued, Loki takes the lul in the conversation as an opportunity to speak up again. "You Avengers are not intellectually challenged.. well most of you at least.. Assessing a threat to possibly be me requires more than it being just that..; a threat. so, what occurred to make you suspect my involvement?"

Eyeing his teammembers, gauging their opinion on indulging in conversation with Loki and answering his question, Steve regards Loki in silence for a moment. Deciding to humor the trickster, he then leans in closer in focus. "The girl used magic that reminds us of yours, so do her combat techniques and her looks." he informs him and sees the surprised look the brothers exchange between them.

"_I see._" Loki then says, seemingly being satisfied with the answer.

"_A girl? You mentioned it being a female.. not a girl.. and what magic do you speak of specifically?_"Thor asks, more questions flooding his mind as asking this.

"A girl. Younger than the enhanced twins we told you of. Younger than the boy Tony took in his care too. This.. seems to be barely a teen child. Most likely younger." Steve explains, which only further surprises the brothers.

"_A human child?_" Thor asks, dumbfounded by this news.

"_A human child does not possess the magic I do. Which you haven't gone into depth with yet, man out of time._" Loki reminds Steve, eager to hear the extend of skills this child apparently has according to them.

"You don't possess the magic you _did_ either." Natasha points out, feeling the need to take a stab at Loki.

Not amused, Loki stares at her angrily but holds his tongue, opting out of engaging into an argument with her at this time.

"Well this child does. And no, there is no way that girl is human." Clint states, shaking his head.

"Or enhanced. Unless they kicked it up a notch.. or ten... somehow. But for as far as I know there are no powerstones on earth to enhance people with like they did with Wanda and Pietro. Vision has the only one." Steve adds to that and sighs frustrated with the lack of info.

"She uses illusions, teleportation, shadows, summoning weapons, something with her mind.. and this.. green fire." Natasha explains, to which Loki gets a peculiar look in his eyes. "What?" she is quick to ask him, getting a little on edge at his reaction.

"_Green fire you say?_" Loki asks to verify if he heard her right.

"It made quick work of her target." Fury now speaks up, drawing the attention of the brothers to him.

Sharing another look between them, Thor seems alarmed by thuis news even, while Loki's eyes narrow slightly in concern.

"_Did it seem to burn hotter than 'normal' perhaps?_" Loki asks, surprising the team in return.

"Yeah. Yeah it did." Sam says quickly.

"_Fel magic?_" Thor quietly asks Loki, but loud enough to be heard by the rest.

"P_ossibly._" Loki answers his brother with a nod, indicating they may have much needed intel for the team.

"Um, what's fel magic?" Sam asks, his curiosity piqued by this.

Thor gestures to Loki to explain, since he's the one whom is more versed in magic and possesses a vast amount of knowledge on many subjects.

"_Fel magic is... rare and very ancient. Not many possess such power and it has a high price. The fact she uses illusions and teleportation is intriguing enough. Shadow magic is less common, but fel magic.. it is quite unheard of these days. How long did it take for her victim to burn?_" Loki explains, though throws them off with his question.

"Why ask something so sinister?" Steve is quick to ask accusingly, seeing it as some sick pleasure Loki is after.

Rolling his eyes a little, Loki says "_Indulge me. I will explain why afterwards._"

Giving him somewhat a disgusted look Steve decides to agree and says "Half a minute.. max."

Nodding as if having expected this, Loki sighs saying "_It is as I said, fel magic indeed. I asked you this, not out of personal gratification.. captain..._"

Scoffing unconvinced Clint asks "Yeah? Then what other reason could you possibly have?"

Tensing up, Thor seems ready to throttle Clint right through the image but Loki places a gently hand at his chest to stop him and let it slide, for now.

"_Fel fire, which she used, burns at temperatures upwards from say.. 2000F. I asked because it verifies if it is fel magic or not, birdman._" Loki retorts and stares at Clint annoyed, getting an equally annoyed look back in return.

"2k Fahrenheit? You're not serious..." Sam asks incredulous, wide eyed and gaping at the brothers.

"That's hotter than most lava isn't it..?" Fury asks in general, taken aback by this.

"_So._" Thor says to get back on topic. "T_his child... possesses fel magic. No human is capable of this. Your assumption is right about this not being a human, not enhanced either. There are not many beings capable of wielding this form of magic._" he continues and rubs his chin in thought on how to proceed.

"We are constructing a room to contain her, it will have a cell like she is currently held in as well, at the Avengers Facility. With all of us there we feel confident we'll be able to contain her and keep her from killing more people. But we need answers, interrogate her, find out why she came. And who send her." Steve informs them and pauses considering whether or not to inform them of the rest.

"_Did she speak? Surely she must have aimed her attack. Who are the casualties?_" Thor asks quickly, now concerned that some of the team are badly hurt, despite the team not seeming to be showing signs of it nor distress over losses.

"She killed seventeen agents. Went after Fury directly.. well.. sort of. She seemingly has a particular target." Sam answers, making Thor look at him frowning.

"_You make little sense, Sam Wilson._" Thor tells him a little frustrated.

"She didn't attack us Avengers, she located Fury and went directly after him for intel on her true target. Fury had us assemble and come to his aid. He managed to trick her into being captured in the cube she's currently in." Steve explains more thoroughly, hoping it will make more sense to Thor.

"_Who is her true target then?_" Thor asks curious.

Looking at Loki directly Steve says "You."

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Loki seems more than caught off guard by this. "_Me? Why go through One-eye for that?_" he asks puzzled, there's no logic behind it.

"One-eye wants to know that too." Fury speaks up, not exactly amused but continues. "She was under clear impression I had you stashed somewhere."

Letting out a light chuckle Loki says "_Someone was seriously misinformed then._"

Nodding to this Steve points out "Yes. But it worked in our favor."

Thinking deep on this all Thor paces a little while sorting all the info in his head then turn to the team once more. "_I will inform Father of this and ask for his consult. I am certain he will know how we can assist you in this. We will contact you as soon as I have spoken with him. Take heed friends, fel magic is not something to triffle with, you would do well to keep your distance from her if possible._" he warns them concerned about more casualties at the hands of the child.

"She is contained, her arms and legs bound, her face and eyes covered. And the cube nullifies her abilities. She wont be harming anyone any time soon." Clint reassures him, as having noticed the look of concern.

"_Do not underestimate her still._" Thor says however and nods curt at them before cutting off the contact.

* * *

_**Wow, this chapter was a bit a struggle to type out! But here it is, hope you all like it! Chapter 5 will be coming soon enough. Yeah this chapter was a lot of talking, but bear with me, more action is on the way! Please leave a review and have an awesome day!**_


	5. Crime

**Warning:** Chapter contains threats of CP and mild CP, contains crude language

* * *

"Well then. Hopefully Odin has some valuable knowledge to share." Steve says and pockets the sigil stone for now.

"Am I the only one that's nervous cos of how alarmed those two seemed? If two gods are worried like that... well shit." Sam asks. his concern having tripled.

"I did notice that. Fel magic.. We should try and research this, maybe we can find something on it in the databases." Natasha suggests and moves to the nearest computer to get to it right away.

"So this girl is not what she seems. If fel magic is ancient like Loki said, how does she possess it? Do you think she's not a child at all? Maybe shapeshifted into one?" Steve wonders out loud, trying to make sense of it all, too preoccupied to comment on Sam's choice of words.

"Or she is far more powerful than we thought. If Loki is right about not many beings being able to wield that power... Do..Do you guys think we could be dealing with one of _them_?" Sam asks, shock clear on his face as coming to this realization.

"One of '_them_'?" Clint asks, not catching on just yet.

"Gods." Sam asnwers him in a dead serious tone.

"Oh shit.." Clint is quick to say, now realizing the possibility as well. "But that's just a _kid_ right? Or shapeshifted.. but why go with a child in that case? Unless.. she used it to throw her targets off guard." Clint continues and holds his head in pain, feeling a headache coming up due to trying to process it all.

"Whatever she is, we'll deal with her accordingly. Meantime we will wait for Tony to finish and relocate her to the Facility. Hopefully by that time Thor will have talked to Odin. I suggest we try to find out all we can while waiting. Let's not approach the girl for now though, just to be safe." Steve suggests then.

* * *

Walking into the control room, Tony and Bruce surprise the team. Staring at the two, the rest seems stunned to see them simply show up.

"Well, not the warm welcome I hoped for. But it'll do. Guess who finished their work early and thought to surprise you?" Tony quips with a grin, wearing his Iron man suit apart from the helmet and is holding a tray of coffee cups while Bruce has a box of assorted pastries.

"You guys finished the whole thing already?" Steve asks the pair in disbelieve.

"Yup." Tony simply says and places the coffee on the table, Bruce placing the pastries down as well, where it gets instantly pounced on by the occupants.

"It has been eight hours since we started." Bruce points out, not finding it having gone by all that fast himself.

Checking his phone for the time in shock at hearing this, Steve groans a little. "No wonder I'm starving." he states and grabs some pastries.

"Thanks guys" Natasha says grateful with a mouthful of donut as holding her cup of coffee as if guarding it with her life.

"Pleasure." Tony responds with and takes a seat at the table.

Bruce saunters over to the monitors and takes a look at what the girl is doing currently, giving agent Hill a slight smile in greeting.

Sipping on the coffee, agent Hill says "If anything, she is patient. She hasn't moved much all this time. I don't think I'd be able to keep my sanity when bound like that in a small room, unable to see or do anything."

"Nodding in agreement, Bruce startes at the image of the girl intensely. "Me either.." he then says quietly as reaching his hand to his jacket's pocket, patting the fabric to make sure he brought their secret weapon. Feeling the syringe, he visibly relaxes a little.

"So, we're ready to relocate her then." Steve says after they've sated themselves on the coffee and pastries and feel better, more alert.

"The quinjet is ready and waiting, staff cleared the area at the Facility. Rhodey, Pepper, Scott and Happy are standing by, keeping the teens away from the room. We're ready. Especially with Brucey's little toy." Tony states and gestures to his science bro.

Curious the rest eyes Bruce expectantly who fishes a syringe out of his jacket to show them. "It's a little mixture I created to calm down the Other guy to the point of knockout. It.. should help her keep her under if combined with the gas." he explains, pleasantly surprising them.

"Genius! It will make things a lot easier then." Sam is quick to say in celebration and gets up to prepare himself.

"How do you want to go about it?" Steve asks Bruce curiously, gesturing to the syringe hoping to prevent any injuries to the team.

"Use the gas then the injection directly into her neck." Bruce answers simply with a light shrug. as it seemed to him the most obvious option.

"Okay, let's do this then. Stay alert at all times and don't underestimate her, not even a little. For as far as we know, she could even be a goddess.. so let's be careful" Steve tells them and gets up, readying himself.

Standing outside the cube, the six of them and Fury watch the girl as agent Hill fills the cube with gas. Slightly twitching, the girl internally fumes at _again_ being exposed to the gas.

Unbeknownst to them, she has been dealing with the effects of her earlier exposure still at this time. Her lungs sore and irritated, her throat dry and scratchy, her skin sweat soaked, tender and seriously pale, not to mention her limbs being rather sore from maintaining the cross-legged/cross-armed pose for so long already. Slumping over rather quickly, she ends up on her right side on the floor of the cube as the gas does it's job.

Making sure she is under, they wait a few minutes before opening the cube's door. Heading in, all five stand aiming their weapons and take a battle stance as Bruce approaches her.

Brushing her hair away from her neck, Bruce frowns at how wet and pale her skin looks and how wet her hair is. Deciding to inject her first and foremost so he taps the skin to locate her jugular vein. Carefully injecting her then he looks over his shoulder to the rest. "She.. doesn't look so great." he states and looks back at the girl.

Lowering their weapons when seeing she's been injected, they approach her now too.

"Yeah. She looks like shit." Clint agrees.

"We'll have to examine her properly at home. She may be in a seriously bad state." Bruce declares and stands up as Steve decides he should be the one to transport her.

Frowning and pausing in his actions as he slid his arms under the girl, having scooped her up, Steve looks taken aback.

"What?" Bruce is quick to ask concerned with the look Steve is sporting.

"She weighs like... _nothing_. I didn't expect her to weigh this little... or be this skinny." Steve explains and turns towards the cube's door.

"Are we pitying the feral monsters now?" Tony scoffs, not feeling all that sorry for the girl.

Looking down at the girl in his hold. Steve's brow furrows before he shakes his head a little and heads out of the cube. "She's a murderer yes. But I think she truly is but a child, Tony. Even _she_ triggers my concern, no kid should be in this state." he tells him as making way out of the room.

Following Steve closely, all of them are on high alert for anything that could happen.

"You don't know what she is. Maybe that's normal for her species." Tony argues and eyes the girl. "Besides, she killed many. She doesn't deserve any sympathy, or concern" he adds in a displeased tone.

"Well, whether out of sympathy or not, we need to keep her in a healthy state Tony, if we are to interrogate her." Bruce points out, though is on Steve's side on this. Whether he truly feels concern for her or it being his doctor's instinct to sympathise with a patient is unclear to him as of yet.

Heading down the halls Steve enters the elevator with the rest stepping on board as well. All eyes aimed at the girl they prepare to defend themselves should it be needed while traveling to the top floor.

Exiting the elevator once there, they enter the roof where the quinjet is waiting for them. Heading into the jet Natasha and Clint take seat at the cockpit to start it up. Heading into the seating area, Sam readies a seat for the girl while Tony keeps his weapons aimed at her in Steve's hold.

Turning to face Fury and agent Hill when about to board the jet Steve eyes them a moment.

"Good luck Avengers. She's in your care now, get some answers. And make sure no one dies, including her." Fury tells Steve, his face showing slight hints of how tense he currently is.

"You can count on us." Steve reassures him and nods to agent Hill before heading into the jet.

"I know." Fury says quietly, watching Tony head in after Steve and the hatch closes up.

Putting the girl into the seat Sam prepared Steve straps her in tight and takes the seat directly next to her.

Sitting down across from them, Tony eyes the girl suspicious she's faking it all, including her bad state. And he vows to himself to shoot if she so much as makes a move on any of them.

Taking the seat on the other side of the girl Bruce straps himself in and looks at her, his mind going over a million things by the look in his eyes.

Taking a seat next to Tony, Same eyes him then the girl and back. "Do you think she'll talk?" he asks then as the jet starts to lift up for take off.

"One way or another, yes." Tony says in an even tone, not against forcing her if she is unwilling to cooperate.

Carefully lifting her limp head up, Bruce brushes some of her black hair from her face as it sticks to her skin and eyes her up close. "She looks so much paler than she did on the cameras this morning." he states and places his handpalm against her forehead frowning. "It's hard to tell, since I don't know what is normal for her.. But if I had to guess, she's running a bad fever." he continues and eyes the muzzle and blindfold. "Hard to assess her state with those on her.. and the binds.." he points out with a soft sigh before letting go of her.

"We'll have to leave them on.. for now. Maybe when we got her into the new cube we can take them off. She'll have to eat and drink at some point and I doubt her limbs will manage to stay in that position without serious complications for much longer." Steve says with determination and looks her over.

"When we get her into the cube with all of us there.. I doubt it would do much harm to take them off. She'll be contained in there anyway, plus I doubt she can take us all on. We're not like those agents she faced. Who knows, it might even make her more likely to cooperate." Clint points out to which Tony snorts.

"If you'd ask me, I'd say leave those on her. She's _not_ a guest, she's a mass murderer, our _prisoner_. We have no obligation to make her comfortable in any way. Criminal scum don't deserve comfort and sympathy." Tony mutters, not understanding them not feeling the exact same way.

"Oh? So, if by influence or upbringing you turn into a murderer, a living weapon, used as a tool and responsible for deaths, countless crimes and damage.. you deserve eternal suffering right?" Natasha is quick to ask in a low tone of voice, aiming at her own dark past, keeping her eyes forward as steering the jet.

"_Right_! Well.. I mean.." Tony blurts out before full and well realizing what she's really saying and hearing his own response.

"Criminal once, criminal always." Clint adds to Nat's words, following her lead and aiming at his own criminal past.

"Yeah, cos clearly if you are a danger you should be imprisoned forever so you can't cause harm." Bruce now says nodding, thinking of how he himself is treated often enough.

Humming in agreement Steve adds "Indeed. Thieves, killers, destructors, threats, unreliable individuals, impulsive ones, misguided enemies.. yeah.. all deserve eternal imprisonment and suffering."

Throwing his hands up exasperated Tony groans "Fine! _Fine!_ You all made your point! So.. what, we're gonna make her all comfy and be friends? She gets a pardon just like that? Let me go get her a soft blanket and fluffy bed before we put her in the cube. Maybe we could leave the door open, hm? Or y'know maybe just welcome her right into the living quarters, give her one of our rooms instead?" he says as sarcastic as he can muster.

Shaking his head at Tony's attitude Steve leans forward as speaking up "No. That's not what any of us meant. Yes, she should be imprisoned and remain that way for the time being. But no, I do _not _think she deserves eternal suffering or to be tortured in any way. Even criminals have rights, don't they? We don't treat the inmates in our prisons as monsters or animals and those are mainly adults. She is a child, as far as we know, I refuse to treat her any less than I would a fellow human. And as Bruce pointed out earlier, sympathy or not, we need her in a healthy state to be able to get answer from her. We know little to nothing yet, we can't make a clear judgement on her yet."

Glaring at the girl in silence, Tony is not happy with those words whatsoever. Not just because he really doesn't want to waste any energy sympathizing with her, but also because he knows they're right. Still, he can't see her any other way than a murderer, cold hearted and dangerous. A danger they are now forced to be near for however long it will be. A lethal threat that's near the team, near the teens and near his beloved Pepper.

Not sure if more time discussing the particular topic would be helpful, the team went silent for a while.

Clearing his throat, Clint decides on a new topic then "So, how glad are we it's not Loki in disguise? I feel like at least some celebration is in order. A drink, or even just a cheer?" he says casually, trying to lighten the mood.

"While I am happy it's not Loki. I doubt she's that much a smaller threat. You saw the look they had when hearing details about her. I don't know about you guys, but if two Asgardian gods seem concerned, then I start feeling rather nervous." Steve admits, his jaw clenching tensely as he looks at the girl.

"Same here." Bruce admits as wringing his hands and nods slowly in agreement.

"So far so good. And with her in the shiny new cube we won't have to worry too much." Natasha points out, checking the time and makes and estimate on when they will arrive.

"Don't let your guard down though." Sam reminds her, not keen on having the kid repeat her actions when Fury misjudged her.

"I never do." Natasha reminds him in return and flashes a smile when Clint looks at her smirking.

"Tony, tell us about this new cube. Did you make changes to the schematic for the other one?" Steve is quick to ask now, keen on learning just how safe it will be to contain the girl.

Looking at Steve in a fake incredulous way Tony says "You'd think I'd settle for recycling an _old_ version of any of my inventions? You think so little of me? I'm so _hurt_!"

Cracking a smile Steve says "Then tell us what wonderful changes you've made to it, oh great inventor."

Looking rather smug at that, Tony corrects him "_Genius _inventor you mean."

Rolling his eyes, Sam shoves Tony lightly in response.

"Well _we _.. as in the team, Friday, Bruce and I.. improved the new cube considerably. T'challa was gracious enough to arrange a shipment of vibranium too. We infused the metal frame of the cube with that. It's unbreakable. The walls are state of the art bullet-proof glass like the old cube, but far thicker. An electric current runs through it, but can be switched off if needed. Cameras monitor from inside and outside of the cube and room that holds the cube, twenty in total. The cube is also lit up from all sides, which can also be shut off. Gas dispensers are installed, containing a concoction of Bruce's making, based on what he injected her with. There's motion sensors and scans.. and Friday watches it all like a hawk. Nothing will get past her, not even a sneeze." Tony explains, seeming excited about his newest invention.

Noticeably impressed, the rest listens intrigued as he speaks.

"Oh and the best part, Bruce managed to combine part of the blood sample with my nullifying programs. So it nullifies her abilities specifically, everyone else is safe. Should we need to be inside there with the door closed, it won't leave us defenseless. Well those with magic based powers at least. Everyone else won't be affected either way." Tony adds grinning wide at this and his excitement is contagious amongst the team.

"You continue to amaze me with your skills." Steve says in a sincere tone, a look of gratitude gracing his face.

Nodding in thanks, Tony looks at the girl then.

"Let's hope we'll have minimal trouble once she's contained." Bruce states, expecting none of them to be able to relax until she's in the cube.

* * *

"I'll go get some more drinks." Pepper says as getting up from the couch in the common room.

Currently watching Grown Ups with the teens to keep them in one place and distracted, Rhodey, Scott, Pepper and Happy are scattered around the room.

Not really paying much attention to the movie that's playing, Wanda is sitting with her knees to her chest, leaning against Pietro comfortably.

Having wrapped his arm around his sister Pietro is trying to focus on the movie but is more than impatient and on edge as waiting for the rest to arrive with the girl.

Peter on the other hand hasn't managed to focus whatsoever on the movie and has chosen the far most seat next to a large window. Having spend the whole time looking out of the window despite the others attempting to include him in conversation, he's starting to worry them.

Tracking the team on gps on an ipad, Rhodey is as tense as the rest for them to arrive. Continuously glancing at the ipad to see how close they are, Rhodey gets up and says to Happy "Get ready. They are about to arrive."

Getting on his phone immediately, Happy gets busy informing security and the staff of this news.

Getting up, Scott moves to the window to look out and see if they are in view from there yet.

Looking up at Scott briefly, Peter opens his mouth to tell him something but loses his nerve.

"Sup, Pete?" Scott asks him softly, leaning down a little so their conversation is more private.

"Sorry.. for before. It wasn't cool at all.. "Peter nearly whispers, having felt bad for giving him so much trouble, on top of the guilt that been gnawing at him for hours now.

Patting his shoulder Scott offers him a smile "For running off or eavesdropping? Cos you didn't seem to have much choice about the teleporting. Though.. you did go along with it after that.." he then says and pauses when seeing Peter's face drop even more. "Hey, we all mess up. Just focus on fixing it, Pete. I'm not gonna hold it against you, dont worry so much." he tries to reassure him, annoyed by their behavior but not so much to actually want them to feel so bad about it.

Relaxing slightly at hearing this, Peter feels somewhat relieved that at least Scott doesn't seem to be livid at him. Having a very hard time with the thought he worried and scared the team, mainly Tony, he can't help but feel as guilty as he does. The realization of having put the mission in jeopardy on top of scaring the man he looks up to like an actual hero, makes him feel literally sick with guilt.

Smiling at the twins, Pepper hopes to calm their nerves a little. At least enough so they won't panic and take off before the rest arrived home. She is just as eager to sort them out as several of the adults, as it's overly clear they are in a bad state due to their actions. And a lot has to be explained and discussed with them to clear the air and prevent a repeat.

On top of that she's eager to learn more about the girl they took into their custody. She may not be an Avenger herself, but she deals with Avenger business as well as Stark Industries on a daily basis. As well as having taken on a role similar to a mother figure in their new found family setting. She can definitely hold her own, even without engaging in any combat.

Offering the twins a refill on their drinks, as Peter declined each offer so far, Pepper sits down next to Wanda and pats her leg gently. "Try to calm down. They have everything under control, I'm sure. And after that we will have the talk okay?" she tells the twins in a friendly tone and runs her hand through Wanda's hair affectionately.

Nodding, Wanda hopes they won't run into problems with the girl, as well as hoping they will hurry up. Not sure how much longer she can stand having to wait and have the 'doom' hang over their heads, she sighs deep to try and calm her nerves.

"What about the girl? Will they just drop her in the cell and take off?" Pietro asks curiously, frowning at their plan to have the 'talk' right after.

"That's the plan. She's still knocked out for some time." Rhodey explains and checks the ipad again. "They're here." he informs the rest and readies himself just in case he is needed for assistence.

"For how long will she..?" Wanda asks hesitant, wondering if it's not just the talking part that they are planning to carry out.

Catching on to what Wanda is really asking about, Rhodey eyes her and gives her a somewhat stern look to help her out the dream "Long enough, kid." he answers her, expecting their guardians to be taking them in hand firmly.

* * *

Landing the jet on one of the designated landing pads, Natasha makes sure it's a smooth landing before shutting off the jet's engines and get up.

Opening the hatch, Clint gets out of the jet and reading his bow while scanning the area.

Heading out right after, Tony while in full suit, aims his blasters at Steve who again is carrying the girl in his hold as exiting the quinjet.

Taking behind, Bruce takes it upon himself to shut down the jet fully, leaving Natasha to follow the rest, drawing her gun.

Going ahead, Sam heads towards the main building to check if the area is indeed cleared of staff, civilians and the rest of the team before he calls over. "Ready for you."

Nodding curt, Steve makes way over to the building as well and heads towards the basement levels.

They head down a very long hallway towards the very back of the basement floor where they come to a stop by heavy steel doors.

Punching in the codes on a keypad beside the doors, Tony opens the doors revealing a large square room with the 2 by 2 cube in it's center. "Friday, open the cube's door" he orders the AI and the sturdy cube's door slides open instantly.

Heading into the cube, Steve looks around it more than impressed and decides on placing the girl in it's center on the floor. Regarding her for a moment, he then wonders if there is anything else that needs doing at this time.

Standing outside the cube, the rest lets out a breath in relieve to have her in the cube safely and lower their weapons.

Unable to come up with anything at this moment, Steve heads out of the cube to which Friday takes it upon herself to close the door behind him.

"Activate containment protocol amd run a sequence of scans. Check status of the cube and it's programs while you're at it, just to be sure." Tony instructs Friday then and watches carefully as Friday complies.

Locking the door tight, activating the electric current in the walls and aiming the cameras, Friday then starts to test each feature. Starting on the lights then they go on and off one by one. Finally a laser points at the girl before spreading and moving over her whole body several times then shuts off.

"Status of unknown specimen: Data incomplete, assessment of specimen incomplete, accesssing DNA data.. please wait." Friday calls out and goes silent for a minute or two. "Incomplete data, speculated status based on gathered data: Internal damage caused by gas exposure, lungs and throat damaged, specimen is in stage 3 NREM sleep, heartrate slowed. Muscles show signs of damage caused by immobilization and suspected recent combat or possible heavy level work out." Friday then informs them.

His lips set in a thin line Bruce, who joined the rest by now, is concerned as hearing this.

Sporting identical looks, Steve and Clint eye the scientist.

"She will need medical care to counter that." Bruce tells them but makes no moves just yet.

"How long before she wakes?" Natasha asks Bruce, wondering if they should get her the aid first.

"I can't make an accurate calculation since we don't know what she is, but if I had to guess... two hours, maybe three?" Bruce answers her with a light shrug, hoping they will have some time yet to come up with a plan.

"Friday, is the girl's state a dire threat to her health? Does she require immediate care?" Tony asks, wanting to be sure.

"Insufficient data to make an accurate calculation. Predicting possible assessment... Assumption: Negative. No immediate care required" Friday answers him, putting them somewhat at ease.

"We can't do anything but wait for Thor to get back to us, and wait for her to wake up I suppose. So I suggest we head back to the rest and deal with the teens.." Steve suggests, wanting to address the situation as soon as possible so it doesn't hang over the family like a dark cloud anymore.

"I agree" Tony is quick to tell him, nodding before then heading to the steel doors. "Friday will be watching, but I suggest some of us stay in the nearby monitor room either way." He continues and eyes them.

"Well, it's not going to be you three. And I want to have a word with those three brats myself too." Natasha makes clear as looking at Steve, Tony and Clint.

"I will monitor." Bruce offers willingly, preferring not to be there when the teens are confronted and punished.

"Okay, and you Sam?" Steve asks as they head out of the cube room, looking over his shoulder to him.

"I'd rather be there. I managed to explain it some to Wanda, maybe I can to the boys as well. She seemed to understand it now." Sam explains and is keen on making sure things stay calm between them all if he's able to.

"Happy could join Bruce." Tony suggests, guessing the man won't have anything against the task. Plus Happy isn't all that chatty, nor is Bruce, so they won't irritate eachother in the meantime.

* * *

Entering the common room after having changed to their casual clothes, Tony, Steve, Sam, Clint and Natasha draw the attention to them instantly.

Checking the time, Tony sees it's nearing 7pm by now and heads towards the kitchen.

Watching him, Pepper is quick to join him, followed by Sam.

Heading to the seating area, Steve stops in the middle of the room and eyes the teens. Taking the TV remote from the coffee table he aims it behind him, turning the tv off.

Meantime, Tony has beckoned Happy and asked him to go assist Bruce with monitoring the girl. To which Happy is more than glad to oblige, heading over immediately.

Spotting Peter eyeing him from the far seat by the window, Steve points to a spot next to Wanda. "Come Peter, go sit over here please." he tells the nervous teen and waits for him to comply.

Joining Pepper, Tony and Sam in the kitchen Rhodey asks "Will we be doing this discussion over dinner?"

Pepper ushers Tony out of the way as getting to the fridge so she can get the vegetables she's after as saying "Maybe, or maybe we can fix dinner while they talk to them since it will be a while yet before dinner's ready. Though it might be less intense for them if done over dinner. I'm leaving it up to their parents."

"I don't know, Pep. I say _intense_ is just what they need right now." Rhodey points out and looks over to Steve.

Joining Steve's side, Clint crosses his arms as regarding the teens while thinking on all he wants to say.

"Right, those guys over there will be making dinner in the meantime. But they too have plenty to say to you three and can join the conversation at any point. Here's how it's going to go.. We'll hear you out and we want to hear the _full_ extend of what you three been up to, after that we'll discuss it at length." Steve tells them, taking the lead on the matter and waits for Scott and Natasha to sit down somewhere.

"Just.. 'discuss'?" Pietro tries, hopeful that's all they will be doing.

Giving him an unimpressed look, Clint decides to help him out of the dream right away. "I don't think so _mouthy_. You'll be having a very hard time sitting for some time to come. But you already knew that." he scolds him, causing Pietro to break eyecontact rather quickly. "Mhm, that's what I thought." Clint adds then, Pietro proving his point.

"Now then, what were you three up to when Scott checked up on you? He knows you were up to _something_. So spill it." Steve tells them and gives them an expectant look.

Exchanging looks, the three seem to try and decide who will be the one to 'fess up.

Deciding to be the one to do it, despite his sickening nerves, Peter speaks up. "Listening in.."

Pausing his work in the kitchen, Tony makes sure to listen closely at this.

"How?" Steve demands, steeling himself at the look he's being given by Peter in response. Damn that kid is a star at giving puppy eyes.

Seeing Steve isn't persuaded by this, Peter reluctantly admits "On the ceiling, with my suit's mask."

"_**Peter!**_" Tony snaps at him immediately, having warned him several times before not to use his Spider-man suit to eavesdrop on allies before. Hearing now that he has done so yet again seriously angers the man.

Wincing at the snap, Peter is quick to cast his eyes down at his lap.

"How much have you heard?" Clint asks, wanting to know the full extend of their knowledge on the matter.

Wanda decides to speak up this time. "A girl attacked Nick Fury, asked about Loki, killed many agents. She's in Avenger's custody cos she's too dangerous to be put anywhere else. We.. we haven't seen the footage. But Peter heard it when Scott and Rhodey watched it.. Also, Tony and Bruce made a cell for her. That's.. it."

"And that she could be Loki." Pietro adds to that.

"She's not." Natasha tells them, making them look at her. "I'm guessing you didn't overhear us informing Rhodey of that when we talked to Thor.. and Loki himself. We're waiting for them to get back to us with anything they found out. Thor will be talking to Odin and see if Asgard can assist." she continues, catching them by surprise.

Relieved to hear this, they let out a sigh in relieve as this is one less worry and a weight off their shoulders.

"So when Scott asked you what you were doing you chose to _lie_ to him." Steve points out to get the discussing moving along, already very displeased with them for deciding to betray their trust by listening in.

"You could have waited for us to deal with what we had to and inform you of what's going on. But you chose to be impatient and eavesdrop and go behind our backs instead." Clint adds to that, not willing to sugar-coat it for them.

"You _wouldn't_ have! You were going to keep us out of it cos we're _kids _to you!" Pietro is quick to argue, getting defensive now.

"_Yes_. We _would_ have!" Clint argues back, not happy whatsoever Pietro decided to argue.

"Pietro, we didn't keep you three out of it because we don't trust you. We did it because you're still being trained and we are responsible for you. Not just as older and more experienced team members, but as your caretakers too. Once we knew what we're dealing with and took care of the immediate threat we would have infromed you of it all." Steve explains rather calmly and notices Wanda's gaze go over to the kitchen where Sam is.

Following her gaze, Clint chips in "Sam told us that he made you understand, is that true Wanda?"

Nodding, she looks at her twin, trying to calm him by taking hold of his hand again.

"Will you explain it in your words to Peter and Pietro? Then we can also learn what he told you and see if we need to add anything to it." Steve asks her and sits down on the coffee table facing them.

Nodding at the request, Wanda eyes Peter and Pietro after that. Thinking on it a moment to sort her words properly in her head she then says "Sam said there hasn't been a Code Red assembly yet sunce we joined and since the team grew. That it's for the most lethal threats only. And cos we're still in training they didn't want to assign us just yet. Not that they expect us to stay out completely.. and not that our powers aren't good enough.. And... that they didn't want us to go to war if they don't know who the enemy is, that they are responsible for us and are in charge."

"Exactly." Sam calls over from the kitchen, having listened to her closely as working on handing Pepper the chopped up vegetables as she's working on cooking up a tomato sauce.

"But we _could_ have! We proved ourselves in Germany and with Ultron." Pietro argues still, unwilling to submit.

"Yes you did prove yourself quite capable in such situations. But that doesn't mean we'll take risks unless we have no choice. Being responsible for you means we are reliable for your health and safety. We're not about to be reckless when it comes to lives." Natasha points out to the angry teen.

"And might I remind you that you damn well nearly _died _in Sokovia." Clint says, pointing at Pietro accusingly.

"We care about you, all of us do. That's why we have a mild heart attack when you worry us like you did when running off. We even thought it could have something to do with the girl's attack. Who knows, you could have even been taken while we were buys with her in the meantime. You know we're a family, you know how much we see you three as our _own_. With that comes a ton of responsibility, and yes we'll be careful with situations like a lethal attack. You won't agree with everything we do, with our rules for you and our decisions regarding you. But you _will_ obey us." Steve tells them, his face dead serious, wanting to make this as clear as possible.

"We.. You thought we were taken?" Peter asks, alarmed by this. No wonder they seemed so worried and scared. Gods.. what have they done?

"Yes, we did." Steve answers him nodding, then adding "When we tell you to stay somewhere, we need you to obey. Besides the fact that you worried and scared us, beside having betrayed our trust.. Beside _all_ that.. We had to make arrangements to leave a mission in progress and deal with you three acting out. People could have gotten hurt or even _killed _because of this, especially with a Code Red. We need our focus to be on the mission to protect everyone, _not_ worry about you three not listening to our orders. Disobedience in a team puts _everyone_ in jeopardy."

Now sporting identical guilt ridden looks, the three teens seemed to have grasped the severity of the situation.

* * *

"So to sum it up until now.. You eavesdropped and lied, went behind our backs... What did you two say to Scott when throwing your little fit? He mentioned you spoke in your native tongue. I doubt it's anything good if you felt the need to say it in a language Scott doesn't speak." Clint says, breaking the silence that took over.

Sharing a startled look, the twins seem to pale at this and tense up instantly.

"_That_ bad huh?" Steve comments, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"We're sorry.. it won't happen again!" Wanda tries, hoping they won't be forced to confess the exact words they used.

"Indeed, it _won't_. But I told you we want the full extend of what you been up to, so I want you to anwer Clint. Lying to us again or hiding things will only make us trust you even less. You've already broken our trust, please don't make it worse." Steve makes clear and isn't about to back down.

Still not daring to confess, the twins keep exchanging panicked looks, with Pietro even eyeing the door, wondering if he'll be able to bolt.

Stepping in front of his view of the door, Clint shakes his head sternly.

"Either you tell us on your own accord, which will work towards gaining our trust back, ot I'll ask Friday to replay the audio." Steve tells the twins after having given them a moment to gather their courage, but is starting to lose his patience with their stalling.

"I .. said you kutat us.. like deiti." Pietro reluctantly answers, deciding to placate them with giving part of the truth.

"We don't coddle you like babies. We treat you like teenage Avengers, who are still in training. You two still have trouble accepting being treated like your age I see." Natasha says in response, making a little more sense of the underlying problems they need to address apparently.

"Nat is right. And we will do our best to help you cope and get more comfortable with being raised.. Instead of doing this all yourselves like you were used to for years. Seeing it's still a bigger problem than we were aware of." Steve says in a determined tone, glad this problem came to light.

Peter being used to having someone raising him throughout his life be it his parents, Uncle and Aunt or Tony and Pepper has no issues with the authority over him. At least not to the extend the twins are struggling with. For them it's very hard to accept others being in charge and making decisions for them. They have gotten some better at accepting it, but the adults were under the impression it was no longer such a prominent issue anymore.

"What else did you say? Cos I'm not buying it that it's all you said. You wouldn't have resorted to your native tongue for that." Clint says, making clear he's not settling for the explanation they offered so far.

"I may have swore a little." Pietro confesses with Wanda following suit

"Me too.."

Nodding as having expected this being the case, Clint gestures for them to keep going and explain.

"Do we _have_ to?" Wanda asks, giving Steve a pleading look.

"Yes, most definitely, seeing how reluctant you are." Steve however tells her to which Pietro lets out basically a whimper.

"I'll sit never again..." he complains miserably.

"Probably." Clint tells him, not feeling any sympathy.

"I said.. you're all eblan." Wanda offers and eyes Natasha, expecting the spy to translate.

Raising her eyebrows, Natasha is surprised as she expected _far_ worse. "That's not _that_ horrible. I've called them far worse myself." she points out with a light shrug. Seeing all eyes on her she rolls her eyes a little. "Dumbasses.. shitheads.. something like that is what it basically means." she explains.

Displeased nonetheless, Steve looks back at Wanda who's blushing lightly in shame. "You know better. Don't be so disrespectful." he scolds her with, shaking his finger at her a little.

"Sorry Steve.." she squeaks, blushing brighter in response to being scolded like that.

"And you?" Natasha asks Pietro, eager to get it over with.

"Poshol ti nahoo." Pietro meekly confesses, to which Natasha actually raises her eyebrows up high before lowering them into a dark scowl.

Getting up she stalkes over to the teen and gets right into his face. "U tebya bol'shiye problemy, otrod'ye. Ty zasluzhivayesh' nakazaniya. Ya nadeyus' chto Clint shlepayet dobrotno. Potomu chto ty zasluzhivayesh' khoroshey porki!" she hisses at him angrily and narrows her eyes at him before heading to the kitchen, needing a drink after that.

Wide eyed, Pietro eyes her and gulps as she walks off then looks at Steve and Clint horrified.

Alarmed at how angry Nat seemed, as it's very rare for her to express it so freely, Steve looks up at the ceiling. "Um, Friday..? What did Natasha just tell Pietro?" he asks loudly, still awkward when interacting with the AI.

"Searching.." Friday says in response before starting to play back the words. Pausing a moment then she speaks up again "Translating.. "

"_You are in __**big**__ trouble, brat. You deserve to be punished for that. I hope Clint spanks to soundly. Because you deserve a good spanking."_

Blushing bright red, Pietro looks at the shoes on Clint's feet wishing the ground would open up and swallow him hole. Anything is better than having to cope with the embarrassment of having it said to him in front of the others.

Turning to gape at Natasha, the room watches her take a long drink from a cold bottle of water.

"Friday.. What did Pietro say before that.." Clint asks, it being very obvious he's having a hard time keeping his anger contained.

"Translating.. " Friday says

"_Go fuck yourself_"

"_**What?!**_" Clint snarls, his anger shooting through the roof immediately.

Flinching on his behalf, Peter and Wanda both feel like bolting while Pietro swallows hard.

In a flash, Pietro then loses his nerve and dashes over the back of the couch bolting for the door. Finding Tony and Rhodey blocking the doorway as they expected this response, Pietro skids to a halt. Backing away a little from the pair he feels an iron grip on his biceps he turns to see Clint give him a death glare.

"I have half a heart to toss the 'not with an audience'-rule right out the window! Believe me, I'm having a _real_ hard time not to! Have you lost your damn mind?! What gives you the right to be so disrespectful towards members of your team.. your _family_?! Well?!" Clint snaps and gives Pietro a rough shake.

"Please no!" Pietro pitifully begs, already feeling humiliated enough with everyone being well aware of how teen Avengers get dealt with when messing up big time.

Regarding the teen, Clint remains unconvinced not to act on his first instinct. Blowing out an angry snort Clint makes up his mind, deciding against tanning him on the spot and respecting the rule to keep those private. He however doesn't let go of Pietro and pulls him with as he makes way back to the seating area.

Not sure what Clint is up to Pietro awkwardly tries to follow and blinks when ending up facing a corner of the room directly. About to ask 'what the hell' he is letting out a yelp instead when Clint's handpalm collides with his backside sharply once.

"Stay put. I'm not gonna whoop you _yet_, but I'll be damned if I'd not let you face some consequences for being such a mouthy brat already." Clint growl at him and leaves his ward standing facing the bare walls as he walks back to the rest.

Feeling more than confused and awkward, Pietro looks around the spot he's standing at before turning to face Clint as he walks away. "What.. Why am I standing here?" he asks , making no sense of it.

"Turn around facing the wall. It's a punishment, one befitting disrespectful brats." Clint tells him firmly and makes a circling motion with his finger, indicating for Pietro to turn back around.

"How .. is this..? " Pietro asks, still confused, looking around the spot some more.

"Quiet. Keep facing the wall, stand still and _no_ talking. You'll make sense of it soon enough why this is considered a punishment." Clint tells him in the same tone and watches him for a few seconds before sitting down on the couch.

"So. You swore at Scott then took off?" Clint asks Wanda and Pietro, getting back on track with the discussion.

"Pietro yelled at Scott, then ran. I got angry too and teleported Peter and myself to where Pietro went." Wanda explains, glancing over at Pietro in the corner. Puzzled as well why he's put there, foreign with this practice, she drages her gaze back to Clint and Steve.

"She took you with? Did you tell her to or..?" Tony directly asks Peter, curious to find out if he chose to run as well.

"No, she just took me with." Peter meekly answers and glances sideways at Wanda.

"I didn't ask him." Wanda confirms and sighs softly.

"And then what? What did you do after this?" Steve asks now, wondering what they've been up to the time between running off and being found.

"Hang in the forest for a bit. Pietro blew off steam, and we talked.." Peter confesses, knowing they weren't up to anything unsavory.

"And ran off more, ditched your phones so you couldn't be tracked down. Kept moving and deliberately avoid us.. refused to come home.. Am I missing anything?" Tony says in a sarcastic tone as setting the table with Rhodey and Natasha.

Both shaking their head at this question, Peter and Wanda cast their eyes down.

Running a hand through his hair, Steve thinks on all the info they gathered then turns to look over to the kitchen. Guessing dinner is almost ready, he stands up and turns to Clint. "Let's discuss this a moment before dinner is ready." he suggests, to which Clint nods in agreement and beckons Tony as Steve heads to the door so the three of them can discuss what to do with their teens.

Looking over his shoulder to Pietro, Clint calls over "Make sure he stays put. We'll be right back."

Looking over to Pietro as he's starting to get more than bored and impatient, Natasha nods as does Rhodey. Both take it upon themselves to act upon Clint's request.

* * *

"Peter, Wanda, come to the table" Pepper calls over to the sulking and nervous teens as they are wondering what their sentence will be.

Putting a large bowl of spaghetti on the table Sam offers them a friendly smile as they saunter over slowly.

Placing a basket of bread down on the table, Pepper pats nearby seats located in the center of the table for them to sit down. She knows well that they were aiming to sit at a far end to distance themselves from the rest of them.

Reluctantly, both Wanda and Peter sit down on the indicated seats. Normally, Peter would be more than a little excited and talkative.. especially seeing all the food in front of him. But he shows no interest in it at all at this time.

"Can I move please, this is _stupid_." Pietro calls from his spot then, having lost his patience with having to stand still in silence. It goes against his entire nature and instinct to keep still, the excess of energy screaming at him to move.

"No. You will wait there for Clint." Natasha is quick to inform him somewhat annoyed he's having an attitude about it.

Groaning at this Pietro dramatically leans his head against the wall in response.

"Hey, you only have yourself to blame for being put there. And it seems very effective." Natasha tells him, getting even more annoyed.

"But this is _boring.._" Pietro complains, really struggling with obeying the order for much longer.

"That's the point. It wouldn't be much of a punishment if it was pleasant." Rhodey points out, looking over to the now fidgety Pietro.

"Take it up with Clint i you're so against it. I'm sure he'll be in a good mood to hear your plea since you been so respectful and obedient lately." Natasha scoffs sarcastically.

Muttering angrily in response, Pietro decides to stew in relative silence.. for now.

* * *

When Clint, Tony and Steve return to the kitchen everyone is seated at the table apart from a very cranky Pietro. Turning their heads to the trio the rest attempt to read their moods. Clint makes way to Pietro while Tony and Steve take seat at the table.

"This looks really good guys, I hope you didn't have to wait too long for us?" Steve asks, his tone cheerful despite his eyes showing determination and have a stormy look in them.

"Nope, bartely a minute or two-three." Sam tells him and starts to fill Scott's plate up for him as he's the nearest to the bowl of spaghetti.

Offering her own plate, Natasha turns to look over to Clint and Pietro. Seeing them bickering in the corner she shakes her head and offers Sam a genuine thanks when he hands her plate back to her.

Glancing over to Peter and Wanda, Tony notices neither of them are making a move to get food and are fidgeting with their cutlery.

As Rhodey took it upon himself to serve Pepper, himself and reached for Steve's plate, he notices Tony's gaze. Following it he looks at Peter's plate and gives Tony a reassuring nod as if to say 'I got it'.

Feeling someone take seat beside him quite roughly, Tony shifts his attention to Pietro who appeared to have been ushered over.

In rebellion Pietro made damn sure to make it clear he didn't care for standing in a corner whatsoever. Which nearly breaks the chair he sat down on in the process and bumped the table.

Looking at the guy annoyed, Tony is rewarded with a death glare in return.

Taking seat on Pietro's other side, Clint smacks the teen upside the head lightly, growling "Keep it up, you're digging yourself a deeper hole."

"_Your_ fault. Standing there was stupid!" Pietro mutters to Clint in response and takes a piece of bread, chewing on it angrily.

"Pietro, that's enough." Steve is the one to warn now, having quite enough of his attitude.

Having filled Peter's plate generously, Rhodey looks at the rest to see if anyone else near him needs anything.

Taking the serving utensils from Rhodey, Tony serves Clint, Pietro and himself before taking a long drink from the glass of water beside his plate.

* * *

When everyone is provided with food they start eating eagerly, apart from Peter and Wanda.

Idly leaning her head on her hand, Wanda is sporting a vacant stare, her fingers twitching a little. Wisps of red energy dart from her fingertips as she subconciously makes her fork float a little.

Peter on the other hand is stabbing the food on his plate, not having taken an actual bite yet.

"Wanda, love, no powers at the table. You know better." Steve tells her, keeping his tone calm and friendly. He's well aware of how much she's struggling with guilt and regret over her actions.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Wanda looks over to him a little wide eyed, the fork dropping abruptly. Blushing a little she softly says "Sorry."

Ignoring the exchange and other chatter going on, Peter is drawn completely into himself and his own thoughts, not so much as casting a glance at anyone.

"Peter. Pete.. Hey!" Tony tries a few times to draw his attention but Peter either ignores him or isn't hearing him. When he's about to toss a piece of bread at his head Peter finally answers Tony.

"What."

Raising an eyebrow Tony didn't expect that reply. Getting over the initial stun he indignantly asks "What do you mean 'what'? You wanna try that again? And eat your food."

"Not hungry." Peter tells him and shoves his plate out of the way to prove his point. His stomach however is growling in response to being denied the food it desperately craves.

"Yeah right. I've seen you devour entire meals meant for three people. You're _always_ hungry and your metabolism requires you to eat a substantial amount _each meal_." Tony tells him, not buying it for a second.

Putting Peter's plate back in front of him, Rhodey pats him on the back gently as saying "I know you kids are feeling bad, but you need to eat. None of us gets a pass on meals, not even Tony, remember?"

Clearing his throat after swallowing another bite of food, Steve speaks up "That's right. Even if you weren't hungry much, skipping meals is a no go. You're well aware its a team.. no a _family_-rule. For each of us. None of us will let each other engage in unhealthy behavior. That said.." He pauses then and eyes the three teens, checking if he has their attention. "Tony, Clint and I have discussed what is to be done with you three concerning consequences. I will leave it up to them to inform you boys, but Wanda.. You're grounded until further notice. No games, no outings and no movies. You'll have your phone on you at all times from now on. I will not have you ditching it again to avoid locating you. this being the sixth time time you and your brother ran off since we took you in, I want it to be the very _last_ time. We cannot trust you right now, so Friday will be informed not to let you off the premesis unless accompanied by one of us more senior members. You'll be getting an increase in chores, training and schoolwork in the meantime since you seem to have too much time on your hands to get into mischief. You are expected to make a serious effort to gain our trust back that you broken today, understood? Is this all clear to you, young lady?"

Tense, Wanda listens carefully and blushes lightly as being the center of attention and nods to his question as biting the nail on her index finger nervously. Completely bummed by the sentence he's just given her she however is more focused on the guilt and regret that's overwhelming her.

"We'll deal with the rest of your punishment after dinner, love." Steve adds, understanding her being unable to cope for much longer without a release and the two of them having a heart to heart talk to let it all out.

Though relieved, this also triples her nerves at the same time and instinctively squirms in her seat a little.

Wincing at hearing Wanda's sentence, Peter carefully casts a glance at Tony, wondering what his own will be.

He doesn't have to wait long as Tony takes this as a hint to speak up. "Underoos, you're grounded as well, no tv, no games, no outings. Same deal, you won't be allowed outside unless with one of us. I've warned you before about using your suit to listen in on converations the rest of us have.. and I guess warning you didn't do much. So I'm taking the suit for a week, to start off with. No patrols and no Spider-man."

Gaping at him, Peter hadn't expected him to downright ground him from Spider-man on top of it.

"Not done. You'll be getting extra chores and training too. Maybe keeping you occupied will curb your acting out. also, you are banned from my workshop and Bruce's lab for a week. If we can't trust you to respect the rules and listen to us then you shouldn be trusted in those places for now either." Tony adds, making Peter give him a stunned look.

"Tony, c'mon!" Peter complains, not having expected this heavy a punishment despite his guilt and feels rather taken aback at the amount.

"Not a word. You know full well how _badly_ you acted today. Can you honestly tell me you don't deserve this?" Tony is quick to ask, his jaw clenching at held back anger over Peter's unwillingness to accept it.

"..No.." Peter says after a deep sigh, havign gotten over the initial shock and starts to think about it more calmly. It actually seems sorta light now he sums it up in his head. Especially considering how he worried them and put a mission in jeopardy.

"That leaves you, _mouthy_." Clint says to Pietro and turns to him in his seat. "I'm matching yours to your sister's. It seems about right what you're in need of. And before you three get any ideas.. I'm pointinf out that this is on top of the .. _'talk'.. _you'll be having after dinner." he adds to which Pietro tightens his jaw almost painfully. "And. We'll be addressing your impatience and anger, see if we can find a better outlet for it than you have been. Maybe it will hekp you feel calmer and happier." Clint says then in a much friendlier tone, serious about wanting to help him cope as he's expecting Pietro himself must not be feeling great having to deal with the anger and feeling on edge. And it resulting in him acting out impulsively and getting in trouble yet again.

The rest of dinner going rather smoothly and silently they team up on clearing the table as always. Normally the teens would be expected to often chip in with this but further delay doesn't seem like it would help anyone.

So Steve appears behind Wanda as he places a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Jumping a little at the contact, Wanda looks over her shoulder at him.

"Come, love. Let's go to your room." Steve calmly says and starts to usher her with him to her bedroom.

* * *

_Whoops... I certainly didn't mean for the chapter to be **this**__ long. Oh well, it can happen. The next chapter will contain the actual punishment, so i'm warning you before hand. If that's not your thing then feel free not to read it! Anyway, have an awesome day! Reviews are very much appreciated and the next chapter will be coming along soon enough!_

_PS: As stated before, I do not speak Russian and please don t think it's accurate, it's what worked for the story and so I went with it._


	6. And Punishment

**Warning: **Chapter contains CP (corporal punishment) of a minor. And crude language.

* * *

Not saying a word Wanda lets Steve lead her to her room and heads in when he holds the door open for her.

Stepping inside as well, Steve closes the door and watches her fidget for a moment.

Deciding on sitting down on her bed cross-legged Wanda faces him as sitting on the foot of the bed. She follows him with her eyes as he walks over to a sturdy wooden chair at her desk, pick it up and placing it before her. Him having done this several times before now, Wanda has started to hate the chair cos of her associating it with a trip over his lap.

Sitting down on the chair Steve regards her before leaning forward. "Okay darlin', confession time. Why did you choose to run off _again?_ I thought we went over this already.." his tone is rather sad, which makes Wanda feel even worse.

"I.. I don't know. I went after Pietro.. and was _so_ angry. And thought you didn't trust or appreciate us. And.. kind of kept telling myself that and justifying it in my own head. I felt.. _cast aside_." Wanda quietly confesses and casts her eyes down.

"Is that how you really feel?" Steve asks her in a serious tone, hoping it's not even remotely the truth.

Not needing to think on that Wanda shakes her head. "No! No I don't.. well.. I guess now you don't trust us at all anymore so I caused you to do that what I was angry about in the first place." she says as realizing this.

"Do you think we will cast you aside, Wanda?" Steve asks, leaning closer, his eyes locked onto hers as trying to read her emotions.

"No. ..Yes.. no not really.. Maybe." she tries to answer him, unable to look him in the eyes any longer.

"You believe we'd ever turn our backs on you, love? Is that what you're saying? That you'd mess up and earn our distrust and end up cast out? This is why you got so very angry at being told to stay back.. isn't it? You thought we were trying to exclude you and push you aside?" Steve asks her, starting to make more sense of her reaction.

"You didn't trust us.. And now I made sure you _never _will again.." Wanda quietly says, despair heavy in her tone.

"Nonsense darlin'. That will not happen. Yes, we need you to earn trust back. But you sound as if you're scared we'd cast you out of the family if you keep messing up." Steve's quick to tell her.

Her silence in response makes him frown. Is she?

Thinking on this he looks alarmed and takes her hands in his, searching for her eyes as she lets her head hang to cover them.

"Look at me, Wanda" he instructs her and waits for her to comply. Seeing she teared up, he softens his look at her. Getting up he sits down next to her and puts an arm around her shoulders. "Now you listen to me closely, Wanda. Nothing will ever make me cast you aside. _Nothing_. No matter what you do, I will still be here for you and take care of you and your needs. I _chose _to be your legal guardian, and I've never once regret it. Not even for a single second. In fact, I am very proud to be the one to take care of you, love." he tells her in an honest tone.

Scoffing softly, Wanda doesn't believe his last words and tries to pull away from him.

Countering this instantly, Steve goes as far as to picking her up and depositing her into his lap as if she weighs nothing.

Caught off guard by this she looks at him confused. The only times she ever ended up there was when she worried about Pietro's state after Sokovia and it wasn't sure he was going to make it. And to be comforted after punishments concerning her rear end.

"Wanda Maximoff, you do _not_ scoff at me, I'm being honest with you. It brings me pride to be your guardian, to provide for you and take care of you. I would _never_ abandon you, not for anything. Don't you know how much I care about you and love you? You're a daughter to me, darlin'. I would never treat you unfairly or turn my back on you." Steve tells her, cupping her chin between his thumb and index finger making sure she looks him in the eyes.

Looking for any hint of deception in his blue gaze, Wanda however finds none. She subconciously already knew he saw her that way, but to hear the exact words spoken out loud is a shock to her nonetheless.

"Why do you seem so surprised?" he asks her, having expected her to be aware of this affection towards her already.

"You.. Really?" she asks tentatively as if asking it somehow makes him take it back.

"Yes, really. Have you ever known me to lie about anything?" he asks her cracking a reassuring smile.

"No, you're like the most honest person I know." she admits, still quite in shock.

"Well I mean it darlin'. Same as Tony thinking of Peter as his son. And Clint seeing Pietro as his own son as well. We don't mean it as figuratively or jokingly when calling you three 'our own'." Steve tells her and wipes a few shed tears from her eyes. Kissing her forehead softly then he steels himself for what he must do next.

"And because we love you kids.." he starts, his tone now much colder and serious is making her tense up instantly. Expecting resistance, he moves fast and puts her on her feet, pulling her forward over his lap at the same time.

Letting out a soft grunt, Wanda's mind catches up and starts squirming by instinct as he continues.

".. we discipline you when you mess up, act out or break rules. If we didn't care, we wouldn't bother. I tell you this every time we are in this position, don't I?"

Nodding, Wanda still tries to squirm away despite this.

"Be still, young lady. You know this was coming next, and you are apparently in dire need of it. I will not have you disregard our orders and rules, show clear disrespect to any of the team members and especially run away and worry us. This is _not _okay, Wanda. I want you to think on what led you to be in this position, understood?" Steve tells her, having taken on the stern tone he saves for lectures and warnings.

Pulling her slim form against his stomach and making sure her torso is comfortably supported by his legs, he rubs her back a moment to prepare her. Holding her in place gently but firm enough he raises his other hand from where it rested on her leg, bringing it down sharply against her legging-clad bottom.

Sharply sucking in air in response, Wanda grunts at the firs smack, a second soon following suit.

Settling into a steady pace with moderate amount of force, Steve prepares himself for her going through the full range of emotions.

The shock in the beginning never lasts long before it'll be replaced with her getting resistant.

Letting out a few grunts and '_ow's_' Wanda is regretting ending up in this situation again and kicks herself for not having waited for the team's instructions. While at the same time Steve's words ring through her head about her being his _daughter_ in his eyes.

True, she sees him as the closest thing to a parent, but has never really stood still by it long enough to realize how significant this is. She isn't yet ready to fully see him as basically 'dad', but can't deny she does see him as a father figure either. Maybe it's her fear of losing this new family that's holding her back.

A sharper smack snaps her out of the thoughts on this and she elicits a loud yelp, then doubling her struggling.

"Pay attention. I asked you a question, young lady. Don't drift away now." Steve sternly tells her, pinning her firmer and lowers her leggings to mid-thighs.

Whimpering in self pity at this, she tries to snag her leggings back up.

Grasping both her hand, Steve pins them in one hand on the small of her back then pauses for a moment to let her calm down a little. "I want you to think on things yes, but don't get lost in your own thoughts Wanda. I need you to focus on the here and now. I asked you why you felt the need to ditch your phones and further worry us." he then tells her and waits a moment to give her a chance to answer.

"I.. didn't really think on how it would worry you. We didn't want to be found. We just wanted to.. I guess.. punish you." she reluctantly answers.

"You realize you just contradicted yourself right? You say you didn't think about our worry, and yet you say you used it as a way to take 'revenge' on us for excluding you in the assembly. So _which_ is it? Because you damn well worried us _half to death! _Nevermind jeopardizing the mission, you worried your _family_ about your safety and whereabouts, young lady."

"I ..I didn't mean.. I.. " Wanda stammers in attempt to deny her being deliberate in worrying them.

Swatting her upper legs and undercurve frustrated, Steve snaps "Yes, you _**did**_! Stop lying to yourself and stop lying to _**me**_!"

Yelping loudly Wanda shakes her head fiercely. "I didn't!" she snaps back, starting to get frustrated as trying to get away more desperately.

"I see." Steve says, realizing she isn't willing to stop denying yet. So he proceeds to get into a steady rythm again, pinning her firmer.

Starting to kick, Wanda yelps and starts to well up at the rapid building pain in response to Steve's determination.

* * *

"_Okay_! _Okay I __**knew**_!" Wanda finally yells out several minutes later, having endures a continuous onslaught of swats and sheds her tears freely.

"You worried us, Wanda. We didn't know where you were.. and you could have been hurt, taken or worse. Don't you _**ever**_ do that to us again!" Steve tells her firmly, pausing to let her catch her breath. Feeling her sob and pant heavily he needs a moment himself as well. It never gets any easier to take her to task like this, steeling his heart against her sobs and tears is a constant struggle.

"Am I clear?" he adds to that and watches her sobs increase as she nods quickly. "Good. I won't have you running off again. I won't. Don't do that to me again, Wanda." Steve says then, his tone carrying a clear sadness in it.

Realizing now that she _hurt_ Steve, fresh tears pour from her eyes, her sobbing increasing.

Picking her up from his lap he wraps both arms around her tightly, more so for his own need for her comfort than hers at this moment. Relieved to feel her reciprocate the tight hug he lets out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry.." she nearly whispers through the sobs and clings tighter to him as if scared to let go.

"You're forgiven, always will be." Steve murmurs to her and just holds her for a while before kissing her head saying "We are not done yet, love. But we both needed that hug. I need you to wait here for me." Helping her stand he leaves her room, leaving her rather puzzled.

He hasn't done this before so she's rather confused by his actions.

Returning a few minutes later, Wanda looks over to Steve entering her room, before she pales seeing him carry something in his right hand.

"You're..n-no Steve please..!" she whimpers as backing up a little in response.

Walking over to her Steve steels himself again and takes hold of her wrist. "Darlin', I've told you that I don't want you and your brother to _ever_ run off again. I'm going to make sure you don't. As well as your manner of speaking to Scott, he didn't deserve to be treated this way by you three. You broke a serious amount of rules today. And I am convinced you need a harsher lesson to get through to you about this." he tells her, keeping his tone calm, and takes seat on the chair this time.

Pulling her to his side he eyes her pitiful look and watches her stare at the paddle he brought with him. "I know I haven't yet used an implement on you. But I feel there is a need this time." he tells her and pulls her back over his lap briskly to ensure her not starting her struggles yet.

Placing the paddle he brought on her lower back he lowers her panties and adjusts her a little, pinning her arms down and tucking her firmly agains his stomach. Picking up the paddle then he taps it against her skin, causing her whole body to go stiff.

"I do this because I love you, darlin'. And because your behavior today was unacceptable to say the least. You will improve your behavior immediately. I will not tolerate you disobeying orders, treating your family disrespectfully and running off." he scolds her strictly and proceeds to bring down the paddle sharply at a quick pace.

In shock at the amount of sting and fire the implement brings Wanda is quick to go into a frenzy of kicking and squirming.

Pinning her legs between his own he ignores her protests and steadily continues despite her quickly being reduced to loud sobbing and yelping. Not wanting to draw this out for long he picks up the pace to drive the lesson home. "You.. will.. start.. obeying.. the .. rules!" he lectures her, punctuating each words with a sound swat and breaks through her final walls as her body trembles and heaves in loud sobs. Letting go of her wrists and legs he feels the full weight of her limp body as she gave up on resisting and accepts his will freely.

The flood of emotions caused by breaking down her walls and getting around her stubborn nature has her continue her loud sobbing, barely registering he has stopped his onslaught and is righting her clothes. Though when feeling her scoop her up in his hold and she feels his arms and chest support her she is quick to snake her arms around his neck in desperate search for comfort and reassurance.

Wrapping his arms around her protectively he murmurs words of comfort to her softly.

Unable to stop herself from releasing pent up emotions she simply clings to him almost in a desperate manner.

* * *

In the meantime Peter isn't feeling much better as staring at the rug in his bedroom, trying not to struggle too fiercely against Tony's hold on him.

"_Ow! _C'mon Tony! Not so hard!" Peter complains miserable as face down over the man's lap, though doesn't get the response he hoped for.

Bringing down his gloved arm switfly Tony scolds him loudly "You don't decide how this plays out, spider-brat. You deliberately went against our wishes and team rules. Not to mention you running off! What's gotten in to you?! You're not a bad kid usually, what were you thinking?!"

Swallowing hard Peter feels the guilt gnaw at him again, almost feeling like he's back in time after the ferry fiasco. The disappointment and anger he saw in Tony's eyes then still haunts him to this day. Now wondering if this time he messed up even worse, by the look in the man's eyes when leading him to the room, he'd say so.

Letting out a choked sob, Peter's getting lost in the overwhelming guilt rapidly.

Raising an eyebrow while continuing the swats, Tony is surprised the teen is already showing signs of being close to breaking point. It doesn't go this fast normally and frankly, it has Tony worried.

Balling his fists to try and fight against his frustration and guilt, Peter clenches his jaw tight to smother further sobs.

Noticing how tense Peter is getting Tony pauses and eyes the kid. Even his shoulders are tense, his arms and legs rigid.

"Pete. What are you doing?" Tony asks him puzzled at this reaction.

"Enduring" Peter says somewhat awkwardly in response.

This only serves to confuse Tony even more. "I've heard you complain, protest.., whine and even get angry.. But _this_ is new." he points out not entirely sure how to react to this.

"I completely messed it all up.. Just like back then... I thought I gotten smarter. I'm supposed to be this genius kid right.." Peter explains miserably

Listening to his words, Tony is taken aback and stays silent as he's registering what Peter is on about. "What?" he finally asks Peter, unable to follow. '_Back then_'?..

"It's what I do isn't it.." Peter nearly whispers.

Starting to get an inkling about what Peter is aiming at now. "Now wait just a minute.. You mean when you went after Toomes? How is.." Tony says then starts to realize Peter may be dealing with a real fear he somehow messed up so bad he won't be looked at the same way.

Letting out a deep sigh Tony shakes his head, he still has trouble feeling comfortable and confident with dealing with a fifteen year old. But he thought he had a better grasp on knowing what's bothering _his _kid.

"Do you think we are _disappointed _in you?" Tony asks Peter then, somewhat tentative as not sure he hit the nail on the head.

"I _know _you are. Just like with Toomes. You had the exact same look.." Peter answers him, furiously wiping away a few tears, not allowing himself to release them.

"I'm disappointed in your choices yes. Because I'd like to say I know you, and you can do much better. You don't just run off, nor do you jeopardize missions. It's not like you.. I call you a brat plenty. But I know you're a good kid at heart. Sure you mess up, but you do your best to fix it, no one is going to hold that against you Pete." Tony does his best to explain, rubbing Peter's back in an attempt to comfort him.

"You just said _usually_ I'm a good kid. So today I wasn't. And your eyes don't lie Tony. I fucked up.. could have fucked up the mission too.. that's inexcusable." Peter says in an angry tone, though his anger is aimed at himself.

Tony picked up on that as well and so he simply sets his lips in a thin line, not impressed with this attitude. Swatting the teen particularly firmly several times he then growls "I thought _I _was the one in charge here, I will not have you punish yourself. And I won't have you tell me how _I_ feel about today, I'm still of sound mind y'know. I can figure that out myself. And mind your _damn_ language, Underoos!"

Huffing in anger after letting out several yelps in response, Peter is struggling between wanting to kick himself and self-punishing, and accepting Tony's words.

Regarding Peter for a moment, Tony shakes his head. "Are you going to listen to me or are you going to stay stubborn about this?" he asks him in an even tone. When met with silence and Peter's fast paced breathing, Tony lets that be his answer. "Fine kid, if you need more motivation.. so be it." he tells him disgruntled at the hard-headed response and proceeds to simply spank him with new determination.

* * *

Minutes tick by as Peter is finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to his stubborn resolve. Choking back a sob again, he's realizing he won't be holding on much longer. Letting another sob slip by his stoical front he feels his walls crumbling and in last ditch effort he focuses his energy on an attempt at escape.

Countering this rather quickly, Tony is even more determined to see this through in order to get Peter to be at a point where his words will be heard.

"_Stop!_" Peter yells then but not even seconds later he launches into a sorrowful crying fit.

Relieved to see Peter finally having stopped fighting against it, Tony rights his clothes quickly and rubs his heaving back gently. "Let it out kid.." he softly instructs him and patiently waits several minutes as listening for the indication Peter got out what he needed to.

Reduced to an occasional sob and wipe at his eyes, Tony finds it time to engage in the discussion again with Peter. "So. Let's see if you are more willing to listen what I'm telling you now." he starts and feels Peter shift and try to get up.

Pushing down on his back, Tony pins him back down which earns him an indignant whine from Peter. "Nope. Stay down." Tony simply tells him to which Peter says

"I thought you... were done."

Wincing at the hoarse and pitiful tone the kid has, Tony has to harden himself a little. "I am, for now. I just found that you pay more attention when in this position. Maybe we should have our discussions like this by default huh? Whaddaya say?" he teases him lightly, trying to make him ease up somewhat.

"Tonyyy.." Peter is quick to whine in response, not appreciating this whatsoever.

Chuckling at this Tony finds it pretty amusing. Having heard this whine often, it never ceases to amuse the man. "No?" he continues and pats Peter's back affectionately before letting out a long drawn-out sigh. "Okay. So, let's try this again. Why are you so convinced I'm disappointed in you, Underoos?" Tony starts, wanting to get to the root of it.

"Cos.. you had that look again. And cos I ran off.. and abused the suit.. And cos of the mission.." Peter is willing to answer, his voice carrying a forlorn tone.

"Kid, you will piss me off. You will frustrate me and give me grey hairs, sure. But you will never disappoint me to an extend I'd throw you to the streets or something. I'll bust your butt if and when you mess up, but no I wouldn't get permanently angry at you. As for disappointment, I said I was disappointed at your _choices_. That's not the same thing as being a disappointment. Don't I always end up forgiving you?" Tony tells him as sincere as possible, wanting to make it clear to Peter he means every word.

"Yeah.. you do. Why? I could have messed up the mission." Peter asks, still not making sense of it fully.

"Could have. Didn't though. And I don't think you deliberately did it with malicious intent. _And_, I think since you are aware of it now you won't make the same mistake again. As for forgiving you for messing up.. I've done my fair share of that throughout my life. _Far_ worse than you have. But I didn't have anyone to smack me upside the head and ask what the hell I'm doing, you _do._" Tony explains in an honest tone and helps Peter stand.

"You don't smack my _head_.." Peter is quick to point out accusingly, holding back the urge to pout.

Chuckling as standing as well and placing his hands on the teen's shoulders Tony quips "Different part of the anatomy then. But you catch my drift. Look.. I care a lot about you, kid. I may still be learning to be comfortable with affection and this role in your life and all. And I'm not all fuzzy warm hugs like some others in this place, but that doesn't mean I don't care."

Nodding a little confused why Tony is pointing this out, Peter frowns. "I know you do. Why tell me this?" he asks him, idly rubbing his fiery rear.

"Because it needs to be said sometimes. Or to remind you." Tony answers, shrugging casually then smirking somewhat amused at Peter's actions.

Flustered, Peter stops quickly and offers an embarrassed smile.

"Okay. Serious time now. I will not have you act like you did today again, understood? You will also not punish yourself and wallow in guilt either, I _alone _will carry out your discipline.. not you. I'm dead serious, Peter." Tony tells him, his eyes boring into Peter's.

"Yeah.. I get it, sorry." Peter meekly says in response, caught off guard by the unimpressed look on Tony's face currently.

"Better be." Tony warns him in the same low tone before easing up and pulling Peter into a tight hug.

This still being fairly rare, Peter soaks up the affection and relaxes his whole body. "I really _am_ sorry Tony, about today." Peter quietly confesses, still feeling some remnants of guilt lingering.

"I know. I forgive you, spider-brat." Tony reassures him in a much friendlier tone, relaxing as well now that it's dealt with.

"Does that mean I'm no longer grounded?" Peter tries, though hides his smirk by keeping his head turned away as being hugged.

"Hah, nice try." Tony is quick to say while chuckling at his attempt.

"Aw man." Peter whines in response but had already guessed he wouldn't be that lucky.

* * *

_Well here it is! Chapter 6. I hope you all like it and yea I totally get if there are some of you that don't like this sorta thing, that's totally fine. But in my story it's an accepted form of discipline and will happen occasionally. It's not the aim of the story and I don't write it to revolve around the discipline, it's a part of it. Don't worry, Pietro will be dealt with as well, and things will speed up again. Big things are about to happen so stay tuned for the next update! Reviews are always appreciated and have an awesome day!_

_PS: Yes I just totally deliberately teased you with saying that big things are gonna happen soon :p_


	7. Somewhere over the Rainbowbridge

**Warning: **Chapter contains CP of a minor.

* * *

"Feeling better?"Clint asks Pietro as he leans against the wall of the training room. Watching the teen as he is slumped against the wall next to him, sweat soaked and panting, Clint waits patiently for a response.

Nodding, Pietro can't deny he feels less angry and on edge after Clint tookmhim to this room, then telling him to go nuts and get it all out. He chose the punching bag and modified tredmill to spend his energy and anger on until he tired himself out fully.

"Good" Clint tells him, glad to hear this. Though this has proven an effective method several times before, he makes sure Pietro himself confirms it.

Heading to a a small fridge build into the wall on the opposite side of the room, Clint retrieves a bottle of water and walks back, tossing it to Pietro before taking seat next to him.

Opening the bottle, Pietro takes a few big gulps and pours some of its content over his face to cool off.

"Pietro.." Clint starts then, thinking of the best way to start the conversation.

"I'm sorry." Pietro however cuts in, staring ahead of him with somewhat a troubled look.

Observing him a moment, Clint nods slowly. "I appreciate that. But we're still gonna have to talk about it." he tells him then, much to Pietro's dismay as he doesn't feel much for having this talk at all.

"No we don't." Pietro states to the older man and pushes himself to his feet.

Gripping him by the arm, Clint pulls him to sit back down quickly and shakes his head in disapproval when Pietro looks at him bewildered. "Stop walking away. Stop _running _away. The only thing you will accomplish with that is to always feel hunted, never being able to relax, looking over your shoulder constantly. Whether from people or problems.. it's not a pleasant life. Trust me." Clint tells him in a serious tone, keeping hold of Pietro's arm for now.

"You speak out of experience or something..?" Pietro asks in a sarcastic tone, though stays seated for now as part of him wants to hear Clint out.

"Actually yes, I do. I wasn't always an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Avenger.. I have a checkered past, kid. It's not a life I want for you.. or anyone really. And it has actually never worked, running from talks or situations. Unless your aim is to alienate yourself from everyone and end up with much more to deal with cos of things getting out of hand." Clint explains, his tone and eyes showing honesty.

Eyeing him for a few seconds in silence Pietro then looks away, clenching his jaw and attempting to make up his mind on whether or not to keep listening.

Letting go of his arm as a sign of trust, Clint crosses his own over his chest and looks ahead of him. "Can I ask you a question?" he then asks while still staring ahead.

A little wary and confused, Pietro nods saying "Sure."

Looking back to Pietro, Clint's eyes show a seriousness in them but something else Pietro can't quite place as well. Is it uncertainty?

Trying to figure this out, Pietro's attention goes to Clint's words instead.

"Why did you seek me out? Of all of the team members, you and I have this.. bond. You even accepted and wanted me as your legal guardian, not the others. Why?"

Frowning and completely caught off guard by this inquiry Pietro stares at him silently before looking away.

Giving the teen some time, Clint remains silent as well.

"Because.. I don't know. We just do.. the bond. I don't feel like the other guys same way as I do about you. I get angry when they try to tell me what to do. Not so much with you." Pietro finally tries to explain, finding it rather difficult to express it properly.

"Does that confuse you?" Clint asks him, seeing the look Pietro is sporting, as if he's trying to make sense of it while saying the words.

"It does." Pietro is quick to confirm, almost glad Clint asked this.

"It shouldn't though. It's quite simple really.. you _accept_ it from me. But not the others. That's why it angers you. And I don't have issues with it really, apart from when it's regarding team orders or certain rules. There's a difference between bossing you around and requesting you to do something, you don't have to raise your hackles instantly you know.." Clint points out and continues, seeing Pietro's thoughtful look. "What I'm saying is, you see me different than others right?"

Nodding at this, Pietro scratches his head a little sheepishly. "I don't know why" he admits with a light shrug.

"Some people just bond and get along better. Some just become good friends cos they relate or have mutual interests. That's just how it is. In our case I guess we started out as enemies, then gained a mutual respect and ended up with me taking you under my wing. It doesn't have to be over-analyzed. I just wondered what make you seek me out specifically to take on this role and what exactly I am to you." Clint explains, causing Pietro to break eye contact.

"I'm not good at these talks, Clint. I can't express well, and I'm.. I'm just always so on edge and have too much energy. Since I became Quicksilver.. the enhancement,, I can't do anything slow or hold still.. or think calmly." Pietro tells him, his tone making it clear he's getting frustrated.

"It's okay. We'll find a way to help you with that. But I still insist we continue the talk. If you need to, go another round on the equiptment." Clint tells him, trying to keep him calm for now.

Blowing out a tense sigh Pietro does his best to hear him out.

"I need you to tell me where I stand with you, Pietro. Cos if you aren't going to accept the rules you were given we'll have a big problem. I thought you had more respect for me than you showed today." Clin asks then, having let a minute of silence go by.

Somewhat alarmed by this, Pietro looks at him startled saying "I _do_ respect you! I just got angry, and stupid. I felt wronged and I blew out."

"Blew _up_, you mean. Yeah, you did.. big time. So what am I to you? So I know where to go from here." Clint tells him, his voice taking on a far more determined tone. Met with hesitation and silencs Clint offers to help out. "Friend? Mentor? Team mate? That old guy.. or maybe a crazy uncle? What?"

"No.. well yes also. But _more_ than those." Pietro answers him, making it clear it's apparently a very difficult topic by the look he gets on his face.

"Okay... teacher maybe? Or guardian?" Clint continues to offer, not wanting to say the 'D' word in case it blows up in his face. Even if he's seen Pietro as his own for some time now, he has the feeling the kid may not be reasy still.

"No. Yes.. Kinda. But more like.. y'know." Pietro carefully says, trying to avoid saying it out loud.

"I think I do yeah. Pietro look, I won't push you when you're not comfortable with it. I told you that before when signing those legal papers, we'll take it at a pace that is comfortable for you. I just need to know if I still have that role in your eyes, and if you're going to respect what I tell you. As well as respect what I tell you _not_ to do." Clint tells him, his eyes boring into Pietro's.

Looking away rather quickly as actually a little unnerved, Pietro's says "You do have the role. I'll respect you."

Gently, though firmly gripping Pietro's jaw Clint makes him look in the eyes saying "You will respect me? So that means you will respect the rules and whatever else I instruct or request too right? If you honestly tell me you see me as your '_y'know_' .. then I want you to accept I am in charge of certain things in your life too. You said before that you do, then turn around and fight me every single step throwing major tantrums. I only ever act in what's in your best interest and I'm not sime clueless rookie, I've experienced life a whole lot longer than you have. So to put it simply.. Am I '_y'know_' to you?"

Not quite happy to be held by his jaw Pietro however nods in response to the question.

Letting go Clint nods determined and gets up. "Okay. Since that's _'officially'_ stated.. I will continue fulfilling my duties as your y'know. And you will start listening to me better than you have been lately. Now come on." he tell the teen and heads out of the room.

Hesitating, Pietro follows him with his eyes already expecting where he's headed and not feeling much for joining him.

Looking over his shoulder, Clint gives him a displeased look calling over "_Now_, Pietro."

Reluctantly scrambling up, Pietro decides to comply for now and follows the man.

* * *

Indeed as he expected, Clint lead Pietro to his bedroom and waits for him to enter before closing the door behind them. Gesturing to head further in, Clint ushers Pietro to his desk and turns the chair there around.

"Come on.. can't we skip this. I said sorry. And the talk wasn't fun." Pietro complains, really not wanting to keep complying anymore.

"No." Clin simply says curt and sits down, gripping Pietro's wrist and arm, tugging him over his lap.

"I'm _too _old!" Pietro tries tocomplain, feeling even more miserable than he was a moment ago when seeing him sit down.

"You say that every time, and every time it's the same result. Why keep trying the same excuse?" Clint asks him somewhat frustrated as adjusting the tall teenager over his lap.

"But I _am_!" Pietro instead says, huffing annoyed at the situation.

"Like I say _every time_, no you're not. And _I_ am the one to decide that, not you. It's an accepted form of discipline in this family and it's proven rather effective with you. _Mostly.._ You're just the stubborn brat that needs reminding occasionally." Clint points out to him and decides against further room for arguing. Instead he just gets to work letting his hand do the talking. Knowing it takes some time before he gets through to Pietro he simply focuses on the task at hand.

Grunting a little, Pietro is mostly holding on to his stubborness and enduring it with a sour look on his face though flinches when feeling the layers of protection leave his backside. This being rather fast after starting, Pietro cranes his neck to look at Clint wide eyed.

"Hmph. Got your attention now, speedy? I'm just making sure it'll stick for a while. Seeing as you found it okay to mistreat a team member, run off _again, _lie, argue_... _etcetera.. In my eyes that definitely warrents a heavier dose of discipline." Clint tells him and returns to the task at hand.

Looking forward quickly, Pietro feels rather alarmed at this and slowly starts to struggle against Clint's restraining.

"Keep still. You've had this coming and you know it. I don't know what's gotten into you with the swearing and explosive anger but it's going to stop immediately. I will not have you be so reckless and untrustworthy, not on my watch." Clint lectures him, not missing his target despite Pietro's struggling and protesting.

"Okay, I get it! Jeez!" Pietro grumbles indignant, starting to lose the battle with his attempt to remain stoic.

"Nope. You're _going _ to 'get it' though." Clint simply replies and puts a bit more bite in each swat he lands.

Yelping out out startled at the extra force behind his swing Pietro is getting increasingly more alarmed at how determined Clint seems to be with taking him to task. He's been here before with the man, but not with him seeming this driven and pissed off.

"Stahp!" Pietro forces out as straining to endure it, his heavy accent sneaking back out of his throat as his distress increases.

"No Pietro. And move your hands away." Clint simply snaps at him. He's well aware Pietro can easily outrun him and get out of his hold if he really wanted to, and it's a level of acceptance and trust that keeps him put. Seeing him move his hands in front of him and grip onto Clint's leg for support instead, Clint can't help but feel proud and relieve. Clearly Pietro values his opinion, and this act not only shows his trust in him but acceptance of authority as well.

"_So the kid really __**does **__see me as a dad of sorts" _Clint thinks to himself and this give him the courage to steel himself against being lenient.

Still Pietro's stubborn and defiant nature prohibits him from submitting fully amd continues to keep a handle on his emorions, denying himself release. Which also means he won't be freed from Clint's hold on him.

Letting out a frustrated growl and kicking his legs as nearing a tantrum over his battle of wills with Clint, Pietro tries his best to resist the urge to flee.

"Stop that! You have yourself to blame and _only _yourself. You'll accomplish nothing pleasant by throwing a fit." Clint tells him sharply, not impressed with his actions. "We can do this all night, up to you." he adds, pausing a moment to observe the teen.

Panting, Pietro balls his fists and pounds them once against Clint's leg in frustration, lowering his head and mumbling something under his breath.

"What was that?" Clint is quick to ask, though his tone carries no bite this time.

Swallowing hard, Pietro turns his head a little and repeats the words "I _can't _call you that.."

Frowning confused for a moment, Clint stares at Pietro's head before saying "Huh? Is this what you been struggling with all this time? I thought you were being a brat over not accepting blame for today and me being in charge."

Shaking his head, Pietro replies "I _do _know I fucked up today. I handled it all wrong. And yea.. I don't want to say... what you say.. submit?" Pausing then he lets out a breath before he continues "But.. I am not focused on that much."

Running a hand through his hair Clint is caught off guard by this. "Okay so.." he tries to start with, not sure how to go about it.

"I said I didn't like the talk.. I struggle with self.. about that. Wanda does not. I don't get why not." Pietro tries to explain, his anger starting to give way to a deep rooted pain and uncertainty.

Trying his best to follow what exactly Pietro is saying, Clint listens closely.

"Why does she not?" Pietro asks then, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"Calling me..? Wanda.. Oh. _Ohh..!_ I see." Clint mumbles as catching on. "Pietro you don't have to call me anything you don't want to or are ready for.. you know that." he quickly adds to that, not sure what reason Pietro has to be this upset over the topic.

"No. Calling you.. _seeing _you.. I mean accepting you like that." Pietro points out. "I want to.. but.." he adds even more quiet.

Remaining silent for a moment, Clint then tentatively asks "Why is that?"

"Wanda can.. and I don't understand. But I have not asked why. It could hurt her to point out." Pietro instead says, not helping with Clint's confusion much.

Thinking deep, Clint is catching on slowly. "You mean how your sister accepts Steve like a parent? Why do you think it would hurt her to ask why? What is it that you don't want to point out?" Clint asks, his brow furrowed in thought.

"We should have taken revenge on Stark. But.. we are now living with him. And we joined a psycho .. almost helped destroy the world. And now we further betray.. taking new parents." Pietro explains, chocking back tears as saying the words out loud makes his guilt hit him like a freight train.

"Pietro.." Clint says softly then, feeling heartbroken for him having these thoughts and worries. Feeling very bad for Pietro to have to deal with this, he feels like he should have picked up on this much sooner. "Why didn't you come to me with this, kid?" Clint asks carefully, wishing he had confided in him.

"I don't like talking." Pietro confesses, further losing the fight against his tears despite wiping them away repeatedly.

"Well, I'm not really one for heartfelt talks either. But I wish you would have told me this was bothering you, I could have helped."Clint tells him, then lets out a deep sigh as rubbing his face with his hands. "Listen, I didn't have the pleasure of meeting your parents. But what I think.. is that they loved you a lot, right?" he continues while thinking on how to handle this.

Nodding, this only further upsets Pietro to think of. How his parents were to him and Wanda before they lost them.

"They wanted the best for you, and provided for you?" Clint asks then, going with a hunch.

"Yes.. why bring this up?" Pietro asks miserable, not getting wh Clint feels the need to distress him further.

"I'm not trying to make you feel worse, Pietro. I'm asking because I'm fairly sure that if they wanted what's best for you, that would include a home, education, food, clothes.. all that. We give that to you and your sister. _I_ think.. that your parents would want you taken care of." Clint explains, hoping his motives will make more sense now.

Thinking on this, Pietro goes quiet before nodding in agreement. "Papa wanted to get a better job, to get us a good education. Mama did her best to raise us. They would be very angry if they knew how we turned out now." he admits, his sobs turning more drastic in response.

"What? Why would they? You're good kids!" Clint asks taken aback, not sure why exactly Pietro thinks this despite what he mentioned earlier.

"No. We should have avenged. And not join Ultron. And not make trouble." Pietro says in an adamant tone, tensing up as his anger flares up with his grief and frustration.

"Now hold on. You know Tony paid for his mistakes, he was not aware his weapons were being sold to the enemy. He was confronted with this brutality when he was taken. And he made immediate changes. He _still _feels guilty for the blood on his hands cos of his company's former activities. Which is also why he struggles daily, and why he drank so much. It's what drives him now to help whoever he can, but also why he pushes himself too far at times. He sees it as him being to blame for all deaths. Despite the people that were corrupt and abused their positions in his company carrying most of the blame. That's why Tony put a stop to it. He bettered himself since. He's not free of blame, but I don't believe you think he still deserves to die." Clint tries his best to explain and meantime rights Pietro's clothes and helps him up.

Staring at Clint a little bewildered he let him up as well as the explanation, Pietro isn't entirely sure how to respond.

"Right?" Clint asks, seeing he's not getting a confirmation yet.

"He struggles?" Pietro asks instead, surprised by this. He mainly tries to stay away from the man, tolerating him and no longer hating him by now. But he doesn't wish to be good friends, only seeing the explosion and Stark logo when dealing with Tony.

"Daily. He doesn't show it, like you. He rather busies himself with Peter, his inventions, his work, Avenger business.. All to keep his mind busy." Clint answers him, nodding and hoping it makes him see Tony in a little better light if he understand him better.

"Oh.. I didn't know." Pietro confesses, having thought Tony just doesn't care about much since he's often joking and not taking things serious. Wiping remaining tears from his eyes, he then says "No. I do not think he should die. Who sold the weapons.. and who fired them should die. If it wasn't Tony.. then he shouldn't die."

Smiling at this, Clint pats his shoulder relieved. "As for Ultron, as soon as you learned of his true motives, you tried to stop him immediately. You saved people, helped us fight him, saved the rest of the world. you were prepared to give your life to same me and the innocent boy. In my eyes.. that shows you are an extraordinary person. A good person. Why are you still punishing yourself over it though? You sacrificed yourself pretty much for the innocents. That's what a hero does, what an Avenger does. Giving everything to protect those who can't protect themselves." he points out, proud of how Pietro tirned out since he met him'.

Eyeing Clint somewhat in disbelieve Pietro is trying to determine if he means it or not.

"Don't you think your parents would be proud of you and Wanda for that? For protecting people? For making up for any mistakes along the way?" Clint asks him in a serious tone, hoping to get through to him if he's able.

"Yes.. they would want us to help others. They helped people often, even if we didn't have much ourselves. And they would want us safe.. and together. And all those things you said before.. they would want that too." Pietro tells him quietly then shakes his head a little. "But they would not be proud of us today. Papa.. would have used a belt." he adds, blushing a little at realizing he said that last part out loud.

Surprised by this admission, Clint raises his eyebrows before responding. "Yeah. Well you _did _break nearly all rules. Not to mention how disrespectful you've been towards Scott and others. I bet they would not have been happy with you running from home either. Because that's what this place is.. your _home._"

His face taking on an ashamed look Pietro nods and averts his eyes. "Yeah, I know it is. I.. was angry. And wanted to get out and then got angrier and didn't want to go back yet." he mumbles and shrugs a little, feeling even worse.

"Not an excuse." Clint sharply states, shaking his head firmly at him. "It's good you feel guilt, and you were partially punished for it. But I know by the look on your face and hearing your tone, you aren't dealt with enough yet." he continues and grabs Pietro by the arm, guiding him to the bed.

Tensing up instantly Pietro tries to resist the urge to dig his heels as guided and looks at Clint a little worried.

"Drop 'em and lay over the end of the bed, please." Clint instructs him, watching him pale before him.

"Eh?" Pietro blurts out startled by this, trying to take a step back.

Not waiting for full compliance, Clint pushes him down onto the bed so his stomach and torso are supported. "Drop 'em now Pietro." he tells him again and waits as he complies slowly.

"Why..?" Pietro asks tentatively, not really getting what Clint is planning.

"I'm going to honor your parents' memory in the best way I can; by taking care of you. and by taking your father's example." Clint explains and loosens his belt, pulling it out of his pants and folding it in half.

Flinching at the sound, his mind flooded with memories, Pietro hides his face in his hands but stays put.

Pleasantly surprised by this, Clint feels pride swell up in his chest even more. Taking a deep breath he raises the belt, bringing it down swiftly and observes the response before continuing at a rapid pace.

Reduced to tears in seconds Pietro gives up fighting his emotions soon after. Not necessarily out of pain but more so the memories and emotions released by talking about it finally.

Dropping the belt, Clint is a little alarmed at how brokenhearted Pietro seems and is worried he made a _huge_ mistake. Sitting down next to Pietro he leans over to his head softly asking "Kid... are you.. _okay_?" Seeing the teens body shake with each sob Clint gets even more worried so he carefully places his hand on his back.

Pietro flinches firstly, but then relaxes at his touch and turns to look at Clint with puffy red eyes.

Cringing at the sight, Clint feels horrible and sits up, righting Pietro's clothes best he can before leaning his head in his hands.

Hissing at the fabric brushing the skin Pietro lets out a pitiful sob, not caring how young and weak he sounds right now. Though when he doesn't feel Clint return to comfort him he pushes himself up a bit to see where the man went. Seeing Clint's posture, he's confused at what he's doing.

Glancing over his shoulder as feeling Pietro shift Clint sees him stare back at him. "I'm sorry.. that went too far didn't it... Did I hurt you bad?" he asks, a hurt look in his eyes.

His look turning more confused, Pietro pushes himself to sit despite the soreness and simply hugs Clint around his neck in response.

Completely caught off guard by this action, Clint stiffens a little before hugging him back carefully.

"You didn't.. I am feeling this way over memories. Like papa himself was here. I have never talked about this.. not even with Wanda. It.. released a lot. It's.. It's not you, Clint." Pietro explains, his voice hitching and hoarse.

Overly relieved to hear this, Clint hugs back tighter, running his hand through the tains hair to show more affection.

* * *

Having waited for Wanda to calm down and get to a state where she feels ready to face the rest, Steve waits as she freshened up in the bathroom adjoined to her room.

Looking up as Wanda emerges from the bathroom, her hair in a ponytail, her face washed and splashed with cold water, Steve smiles at her warmly. "Feeling better?" he asks her as getting up from an armchair in the corner of the room Wanda often uses to read in.

"Much. How do I look?" she asks him feeling so much lighter now, like a load lifted off her shoulders.

Kissing the top of her head after walking over to her he chuckles softly saying "Beautiful, as always."

Rolling her eyes at this she heads to the door, ready to be social again and determined to find Scott. Feeling a deep need to apologize to him she heads down the halls with Steve following close behind.

Feeling the building shake suddenly she tumbles against the wall grabbing it to support herself and keep from falling over.

Alarmed, Steve looks around startled and runs to her as others now appear.

Running from the common room Scott and Sam are seemingly as alarmed and stand under a doorway for safety.

Hearing a female scream, a silver mist rushes by and comes to an abrupt stop by Wanda's side.

Seeing it's Pietro, Wanda looks at him as he looks her over worried. "That wasn't me. Nat? Pepper?" she reassures him and gets up to go find the two women.

Coming running after Pietro, Clint looks over the rest to see if they are okay.

Steve is quick to go find the rest, finding Natasha on the floor below, coming from Bruce and Happy after wanting an update from them. Seeing she wasn't the one who screamed either, the two of them go in search of Pepper.

Finding her in Tony and her bedroom she's shielding her eyes from a blinding light coming from the nearby window as Tony shields her behind him.

Steve and Natasha are quickly shielding their own eyes as well.

Standing nearby Peter us trying not to look but curiosity is tempting him.

Finding them, Rhodey, Sam and the rest are soon to follow but stay in the doorway.

"The _hell_ is that!" Scott asks alarmed as nearly blinded by it.

"We're gonna find out." Tony is quick to say and calls a nearby suit he has installed in the room, activating the window to open then telling Friday "Activate solar eclipse visiuals."

Retrieving his shield, Steve is soon running outside as well though has a hard time being able to see.

Sam joins his side not long after, using his goggles and suit's wings only instead of full suit.

The bright light seems to shimmer in a multitude of colors as Tony is now able to look at it and calls over to the rest "Wait! I know what this is!"

Looking at the direction Tony's voice came from, Steve responds with "Enlighten us!"

Letting out a laugh at the unintentional pun, Tony flies over to the pair so he doesn't have to yell over the shaking and rumbling still going on. "The Bifrost bridge is being used. It's brighter than before though."

Two figures move towards the group as more of the Avengers arrive to join the group, curious to see what's going on. Seeing as Tony isn't in a battle stance they gues it's safe to approach as well.

"**Friends!**" Thor's loud voice carries over from where he appeared in the center of the light before it dissipates and he walks over happily to greet them. Clapping Steve on the back and shaking his hand by locking underarms with their hands, he greets him.

"Thor! You gave us a scare buddy. We expected contact.. not you in person." Tony tells him surprised before his eyes go to the person following the god from a little distance. Narrowing his eyes instantly he tenses up and aims his blasters at Loki.

"My apologies friends, after my talk with the All-Father.. - " Thor starts, seeing Tony's actions and steps in between him and his brother. "Stark, do not aim your weapons at Loki. He has no ill will intended. He was very much against coming here, he was given no choice." he tells Tony quickly, holding his hand up in a placating manner, then seeing the rest either are also aiming weapons or being shielded by others. Sighing, he expected Loki not to get a warm welcome so he's not surprised, but it still bothers him.

Everywhere Loki is known, this is the first response and Thor has gotten used to this over the years. At least until Loki gives them reason to believe he is truly working on redeeming himself by being helpful and an asset.

"Why is _he_ here?" Clint now demands from where he is shielding Wanda and Pietro behind him, aiming his bow at the black haired menace.

"Allow me to explain. Is it acceptable to you we enter the building to discuss things?" Thor asks, eyeing the approaching people before looking to Steve as he is still considered the unofficial leader.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Steve eyes Loki with a skeptical stare, then looks back to Thor asking "You vouch for him? He is still bound and his sentence ongoing?"

"He is. And I do, you have my _word_, friend." Thor answers him in an honest tone.

Thinking on this, Steve eyes Loki again then nods. "I trust your brother, _not you._ I expect him to keep you in line while you are in our _home_. But none of us here are against taking you on ourselves. Keep that in mind." he tells Loki then gestures for them to follow.

Laconically observing him, Loki doesn't seem impressed or phased by these words and simply eyes the gathered people. Some of them he knows from back in New York City, but many he sees for the first time.

"Come brother." Thor calls over his shoulder as following Steve and Sam towards the living area.

Staring at him wide eyed as he walks by Peter stammers at Loki, causing him to raise an eyebrow at the teen and turn to face him.

"Ohmygod .. hi mister Loki!" Peter finally rambles quickly, further surprising Loki.

"Who are you.. child?" Loki asks in his signature velvet tone, somewhat intrigued by this kid seeming to be in awe at meeting him.

Basically snatching Peter by his chest and moving him behind his back Tony opens his helmet and glares at Loki saying "_Mine._ Back off from him."

"Tony! What the hell!" Peter protests from behind the man, taken by surprise by his overprotectiveness and possessiveness.

Unmoved by this Loki simply looks at Tony then Peter and back before slightly inclining his head to Peter in greeting and moves to follow Thor.

Whirling around, Tony faces Peter leaning close to him and angrily whispers "You want another trip to your room?"

Staring at Tony blankly, Peter whispers back "But he's been redeeming himself, Thor said so right? And he's not letting him near if he was that dangerous, right? So I don't think he'll attack us. Besides, he's still bound. I only said 'hi'. "

"Don't argue with me, spidey! Stay away from him!" Tony orders him in response and follows Loki to make sure he knows what the trickster is up to.

Regarding the man with an annoyed look, Peter blows out a frustrated breath and follows as well when seeing the rest head inside.

* * *

_There you all go, Chapter 7! (No more cp for now, if any of you were bothered by it.) But things are going to be getting **real** interesting now and shift gears. So hold on to your hats people! Anyway, hope you have an awesome day and chapter 8 should be coming along soon enough!_


	8. Little Terror

**Warning: **Chapter contains some crude language. And contains violence.

* * *

Seated around the conference room they chose to use for this, each having taken a seat and facing Thor and Loki who is standing beside him at the head of the table, the team eyes the blonde god expectantly.

"Right.." Thor starts and gestures to Loki before he continues "My brother forms no threat to you. I know my word on this is not sufficient to ease your minds. But.. hopefully after explaining all that happened you will be more at ease."

Gesturing to go ahead Steve shifts in his seat, listening intently and curious to hear if he has any helpful knowledge.

"Thank you. We have both spoken to the All-Father about the attack you faced earlier this day. He has expressed clear concern when hearing what was described concerning the magic used. He has ordered my brother and I to immediately assist you in person." Thor explains to which Clint pipes up

"Hold on, you _both_? How the hell can we expect _that_ to help us, not kill us?"

Unimpressed, Thor responds " '_That' _is my brother. He has been doing good acts since sentenced, I have witnessed all. He has not left my sight as you know."

"Yeah but you expect us to go by word alone, we have no proof of this. We haven't seen it. The last we seen is the devastation he caused, the lives he took, the damage he left behind for everyone to clean up and heal from." Natasha point out, eyeing Loki coldly.

"How can we trust that he's changed? And is not a threat anymore?" Sam now chips in, feeling rather nervous in the presence of the two gods.

"You cannot." Loki himself answers, drawing the attention of the room.

"Brother, you're not helping." Thor warns him, not exactly amused.

"I am simply being a realist. They will not trust I am not a threat to them. You are a fool for expecting them to." Loki tells him in a matter of fact tone. "They have no proof. Only an oaf would trust without it." he continues with a casual shrug.

"I'm stunned I will actually say this out loud.. but Loki is right." Steve says and looks to Thor. "But please continue and we will circle back to this topic later. Have you learned anything?" he adds then, wanting to know if they can handle the girls soon.

Glancing somewhat disheartened at the occupants, Thor can't help but feel saddened by not convincing them more with his word alone. "Yes. It is as Loki said, fel magic. How this girl you spoke of possesses it was most puzzling to our father. We discussed it at length, which is why we have only now arrived. Father has charged Loki and I to assist you here at Midgard with this child, and what we learn of her abilities and origin we are to report back to Asgard." Thor explains and eyes his brother.

"You are leaving out parts... brother." Loki tells him somewhat amused at the looks he's being given by the room.

"_Odin _is puzzled?" Bruce now asks, somewhat alarmed by this.

"What are you leaving out, Point Break? The part where you send Reindeer Games back home?" Tony quips hopeful and eyes Thor.

"I cannot. Father .. he... " Thor hesitates and glances at Loki as he expects this not going over well seeing how hostile they are towards Loki. "He has specifically ordered Loki and I to stay on Midgard. He has ordered Loki to work it into his redeeming process, he said it was high time he is to redeem himself in the eyes of Midgard and the Avengers themselves. So we are ordered to stay and assist in any possible way in a positive manner." he continues and watches the rest turn from suspicious and defensive to stunned and horrified.

"No.. _No no no!_" Tony is the first to protest. He is _not_ staying here. Not _here_, not with _us_, not on _Midgard!_" he continues in a heated tone.

"Thor, you can't possibly think we are okay with this!" Pepper chips in, looking at Loki very on edge things will go south fast.

"Told you." Loki simply tells Thor, leaning with his back against the wall, his arms crossed.

"I follow Father's orders. Surely you can see reason, friends? Loki has done a lot of good! He has not ceased with seeking redemption! Do you not believe me to speak truth? Do you think me a liar?" Thor argues in a loud tone.

"We trust _you_ Thor. But Loki has killed many.. We can't just ignore that. Can you not stay here and help anlone? You have before in Sokovia." Natasha asks, hoping to calm him down.

"No, I cannot. Sokovia, was a one time exception. One that Father very reluctantly agreed to. He has made it clear that he will not agree again. And he has gifted us with a binding collar, not unlike the one Loki is currently wearing." Thor informs them, holding it uo to show them.

Looking at it in disgust, Loki averts his eyes as shaking his head a little.

Pleased with the gift, the rest perks up a little.

"That's generous of Odin. So that will bind her powers fully?" Steve asks relieved they came bearing gifts.

"Yes it will bind her magic." Thor confirms and puts it on the table before them.

"Look. I get that Odin wants Loki here. But we don't and 'Midgard' doesn't. It's nothing against you, Thor. You gotta see it from our side too. I'm not trying to insult you or Odin or anything.. but if you can't send Loki back alone.. is it possible we use the collar without you?" Clint asks carefully and instantly regrets it when seeing the hurt look on Thor's face.

"He..-" Steve tries to mediate, feeling awful this hurts Thor pretty bad to be basically told to leave while clearly having missed them.

Holding up his hand to silence Steve, Thor shakes his head. "I _do_ understand. I simply wish the reception was different as you are dear friends and know me well. But I was too hopeful and my sorrow is my own fault. I am well aware I put you into a predicament, and further will. Since I can also not leave the collar behind. It is crafted under specific circumstances by Asgardian smiths, its magical energy tied to it. It.. was crafted several years ago.. with the intention to put it on Loki. But Father changed his mind against fully binding Loki permanently due to the progress he has been making." Thor explains.

Clenching his jaw as anger flares up inside him, Loki is very much disgruntled Odin had this made, making clear he had no trust in him succeeding in redemption. Again Odin proved him how little he believes in him, and in all honesty Loki is angry at himself for believing things were changing between them. Clearly they haven't.

"But why can't you leave it though? Orders by Odin?" Rhodey asks curious as the reason still hasn't been made clear.

Nodding, Thor confirms this and says as gesturing to the collar "Since it is tied to Asgard and made in the way it has been and for such a purpose, it can only be placed and removed by one that's linked to Asgardian energy themselves."

Frowning, Tony scratches his head confused by this. "Um if it was made for psycho god over there, then wouldn't he be able to remove it himself? Since it needs an Asgardian? Or is he not considered one at all? Adopted and such.." he asks puzzled how this would work.

"Yes. I can operate it. No. Not if it's placed on me. Happy now, peasant?" Loki snaps at him, getting increasingly frustrated with the whole thing.

"_Loki_!" Thor actually warns him and after a stare down, Loki seems to ease up, greatly surprising the rest of the onlookers. "He is right however. If placed on him by Odin or myself, he cannot remove the collar. He _is_ considered an Asgardian. He managed to slowly gain the trust of our people and done good deeds for Asgard, bettering it greatly. Including improvement of the Bifrost, as you may have noticed it being more powerful. So.. we cannot leave the collar here. I cannot assist unless Loki is accepted to stay as well." Thor points out.

Running a hand over his face frustrated, Clint groans. "So either we let him stay or no help? What if we risk it and rely solely on the cube?" he asks hopeful, looking at the rest.

Glancing at him, Bruce winces and hesitantly says "Maybe. Or maybe more will die."

"But isn't she like.. powerless in that cube?" Wanda asks puzzled, missing how the girl can harm anyone.

"So long she's in there with the door closed. The moment the door opens and she is concious, she will be a threat. We can't garantee she won't harm anyone." Steve explains, not feeling very happy himself about it all.

"So she stays in there right?" Tony says casually, though knows this is impossible.

"You mean let her _rot_ in there." Natasha corrects him, seeing as this is what he meant.

"No not rot. Just.. not deal with her physically at all." Tony defends himself with.

"We can't do that Tones." Rhodey tells him, drawing his attention before ellaborating "You heard the results Friday gave. She pointed out how bad her state is already. She needs medical care soon. Plus she is cuffed and strapped in which is already doing damage, so those need to be taken off. She'll need food, so her muzzle needs to be removed as well at some point. How do you expect to do all that without physically dealing with her?"

Intrigued, Pepper eyes Tony then Rhodey. "She's what?" she asks confused what she missed and why she wasn't informed.

Eyeing Pepper, Tony really doesn't want to fill her in fully as he's fairly certain she will have some colorful things to say on the matter.

Seeing Tony is not going to explain, Pepper instead calls out "Friday, please tell me the state of the girl contained in the cube."

Dropping his head against the table Tony groans, expecting a verbal lashing soon.

"Certainly, miss Potts. Do you require the current state or scan results?" Friday asks in response.

Looking around curiously, Loki tries to locate the origin of the new voice and looks at Thor puzzled as seeing his brother isn't confused.

Seeing Loki's face, Steve points to the ceiling saying "Artificial Intelligence."

Raising an eyebrow, Loki wasn't expecting Steve to be willing to explain and even more so at the answer itself. "Interesting.." he murmurs as looking up at the ceiling.

"Scan results please." Pepper tells Friday and sits back as listening closely.

"Speculated status due to inefficient data: elevated body temperature, pale complexion, breathing labored, internal damage caused by gas exposure, lungs and throat damaged, subject is in stage 3 NREM, heartrate slowed, muscles show damage due to lengthy immoblilization or possible recent heavy level workout" Friday answers.

Gaping, Pepper looks at the Avengers that put her in the cube accusingly "Why is that not being tend to? Seriously you guys!" she is quick to demand.

"Uhm, killed 17 people?" Tony points out to her but this further seems to anger her.

"She's a _child!_ I know what she's done, but that's still a person! Bucky killed more people, and he's been treated far better than that. Several of us have blood on our hands.. and still dont deserve that!" Pepper snaps at him exasperated.

"The child is ill?" Thor now asks, catching on as well.

"She's not in terminal damger. I'm not in any hurry to tend to that _feral psycho_." Tony defends himself with.

"Still, she needs care. No girl, no answers. And I'm pretty sure we desperately need answers." Natasha reminds him.

"Plus we are not executioners." Steve feels the need to remind Tony again, even if he has said this earlier today already.

"Yeah yeah." Tony tells him, sighing at their determination to be kind to the killer.

"Might I remind you that she's been _send _by someone. So even if we didn't tend to her, the problems won't go away. Actually it would create far more problems instead." Clint chips in and looks over at Thor and Loki. "So. Either we accept Loki staying.. or no help and no collar?" he asks to which Thor nods.

"This is what the All-Father ordered us with. I cannot go against this. He has Heimdall watching at all times, we will be retrieved if Loki steps out of line or I do. Father has taken precautions. He is well aware of Loki's devastation caused here in the past." Thor answers with a serious look.

"Well, fuck." Clint groans and lets his head hang.

"_Language._" Steve tells him rather displeased at his choice of words, especially in front of the teens. "_If_ we accept this.." Steve starts then, sending Tony into a protest ramble.

"_No_! We are _not _considering this! We 'll just have a way to-"

"Tony. You know we need that collar and we _need_ the help." Rhodey cuts him off.

"We aren't really going to reject their help right? Seems to me that without that collar that girl could possibly kill more people, maybe even one of us." Scott pipes up, not happy with Loki posing a threat but seeing it as the lesser evil.

"There's a real chance yea.." Sam agrees with this.

"If we are to keep her alive and able to handle her.. we need their help." Bruce is quick to follow up with.

Looking at them incredulous Tony slams his fist agains the table. "Are you all _seriously_ just jumping on this crazy train? Almost as if you're _happy_ to have two _**psychos**_ under our roof!" he snaps, unable to comprehend this.

Clenching his jaw Thor is getting angry at the hostility and reception and speaks up in his signature loud voice "Stark! The All-Father could have ordered us to stay out! He is willing to assist where as he has the choice not to! This collar is greatly powerful, an _artifact _of sorts! You underestimate its significance, and its value! Father does not interfere with Midgardian troubles often, yet he is adament to do so now. and yet you reject this?"

Shaking his head, Steve intervenes "No, we will not reject this. But there has to be some safety precautions set in place if we are really going through with this Thor. We need the help. I will not risk the lives of any of those under this roof when accepting Asgard's help can prevent this."

Eyeing Loki then thor and back, Natasha asks "How much is Loki bound? Is he at all a threat to us?"

Not amused with all this talke about him while he's in the room Loki sneers saying "The collar has not prohibit my ability to speak, _woman_."

"Oh yea and you totally aren't known for being a liar." Natasha scoffs sarcastic in response.

"Mister Loki, are you really a god?" Peter suddenly asks, having the same look of awe in his eyes again.

Facepalming, Tony speaks up "Kid, stop being so starstruck! At least aim it at the non-murderous one of the two!"

Blushing lightly, Peter looks at Thor before rambling "Oh..Oh yea! Of course I'm also happy to meet you! You're like.. _huge_! You're like this living legend! Can I hold the hammer? I know I can't lift it most likely but I want to try!"

Looking at Peter dumbfounded, Thor then lets out a hearty laugh. Amused at his enthusiasm he nods "Yes, you may try. It is a pleasure to meet you son of Tony." he tells the teen who now stares at him wide eyed being called that.

"Your choice in ward is .. interesting, Stark." Loki adds to this, actually somewhat taken by Peter as he seems to like Loki despite knowing what he's done.

"You stay away from him!" Tony snaps at Loki instantly, feeling the same surge of protectiveness bubble up within him.

Rolling his eyes, Loki ignores Tony and looks at Thor instead. "Can we keep this conversation of track please. This is turning rather pointless." he tells his brother, not feeling much for staying in the packed room the entire night listening to how much he's hated and distrusted.

"To answer your question, the majority of his magic is bound. He can defend himself with a shield and energy blast, as well as change his clothing. He has his physical strength still, but that is all as he needs to be able to defend himselfin certain situations. I will continue keeping in my sights at all times, as is part of the sentence put upon my brother. We have done this for nine years, friends. He has not taking a single innocent life since. And if you need further reassurance he will not harm you, other than my word and presence, I must remind you we are under constant watch. He cannot cause harm without immediate consequences." Thor tries his best to point out, not sure what else he can say to convince them further.

Looking at the rest, Steve rubs his chin in thought before saying "I suggest voting or something similar. Like a show of hands."

"It would make clear where we all stand." Rhodey says, agreeing with this plan and looks across the room to see if others agree as well. Seeing most of them nod, he looks back to Steve.

"Okay. Show of hands _against_ accepting the help and letting Loki remain here basically." Steve asks and eyes the rest.

Raising his hand, Tony is still against it but he is not alone.

"Brother!" Thor warns Loki, pulling his hand down forcefully, not amused by his action.

"What? You expect me to wish to stay where I am hated and not wanted? Surely you jest." Loki asks, surprised by Thor's response.

"Okay. Show of hands in _favor_ of the help?" Steve asks, ignoring Loki for now and sees them all raise a hand apart from Loki and Tony.

"Well, that's clear then." Sam states, seeing the overwhelming favor towards the plan.

"But, there have to be rules and precautions." Pepper says, eyeing the teens worried for their safety above all.

"Agreed." Steve tells her and turns to Loki and Thor.

"So. They get a room each or something?" Tony asks annoyed, seeing as they are left with no choice but to accept this, despite him being very against it.

"No, I cannot let him out of my sight. Can we perhaps get a room to ourselves? Until Father says otherwise, he is not permitted to have his own quarters." Thor points out, earning a deep sigh from Loki who has been fed up with this fact for while now.

"I'm sure we can get our hands on some single beds, or two double beds. We haven't gotten around getting you your own room since we moved here so it will take some time to get it to your liking," Pepper tells him actually quite happy to see Thor again, despite the circumstances, as he is very much a part of the Avengers and considered family despite his absence.

"That would be appreciated, lady Potts." Thor tells her grateful and turns to Tony. " I know you are against this and I aim not to take this personally as he is my brother, but it is difficult to me. I can only give you my word no harm will come to any of your familymembers at Loki's hands." he tells the man with as much sincerity as he can muster.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Tony appreciates the words, though can't feel at ease about any of it still.

"So, rules then.." Steve starts, eager to make sure everyone is as safe and comfortable as possible. Even Loki himself, despite his clear dislike for the man.. as he figures keeping Loki somehwat comfortable will make him less likely to attack them. Plus keeping Loki safe means a happy Thor and Asgard off their backs too.

"We will keep to ourselves if that is what is required for now." Thor offers, expecting Loki not to be welcomed at any social activities.

Feeling bad he too will then be cut off from them, Wanda gives Thor a saddened look.

"Keep him in the room then or something. Could put a system of some kind on the door to lock him in so you can at least eat with us and make sure he's not causing any trouble." Tony offers.

"Um.." Rhodey starts, seeing this isn't well received by the two gods.

"You mean lock him in the quarters?" Thor asks, his look turning increasingly unhappy.

"Well yeah. Or a safe place to put him in where he can't cause harm." Tony continues.

"I will _not_ be imprisoned!" Loki snaps at this, his anger shooting through the roof.

"We can't let you walk around freely either." Clint points out and adds "My place is off limits. As are the teens."

"And the labs and med bay." Bruce chips in, nervous about the idea of Loki having access to any place he can use against them.

"And my place, workshop and weapon room." Tony states quickly.

"We will not set foot in any quarters but our own, friends." Thor reassures them but sees it's not enough.

"Nor the kitchen." Pepper says, adding "Knives and all."

Nodding in agreement, the rest looks at Thor and Loki again.

"Can he not just stay in the room only, for now?" Clint asks hopeful, wincing at the stormy look he gets in response from Thor.

"He will **_not_** be imprisoned! I have spoken on his behalf when Father aimed for imprisonment instead of redemption until I tired myself out fully before, and I will _**not**_ hold my tongue now either!" Thor snaps, the weather outside shifting to a dark grey at a rapid pace in response.

"Thor, please calm down, we weren't supposed to have bad weather today.." Natasha tries as Thor grows increasingly angered.

"I'm not saying that! Just.. until we are more used to having him around and having come up with a plan." Clint points out, hoping to placate him.

"You in fact request _his_ imprisonment as well, birdman. As he cannot leave me, he would be required to stay in the quarters as well." Loki tells him on purpose, to which Thor narrows his eyes realizing this now as well.

"**_I _**will not be imprisoned _either_!" Thor now snarls at Clint in response, lightning crashing outside angrily.

Hiding a smirk, Loki did this purposely for some entertainment and retaliation for them attempting to lock him up.

"_Thor_! Buddy.. seriously!" Tony tries quickly, hoping to keep him from further blowing up.

" Thor.." Pepper says in a rather calm tone, having gotten up and moves to him, much to the rests' shock as the god seems like a raging bull. "Thor.." she says again, placing her hand on his arm, drawing his attention. Gesturing to the room she continues softly "You're scaring the kids."

Startled by her words, Thor looks over to the youngest team members who seem to stare at him wide eyed and shocked at the display of anger. "My apologies." he tells them quickly and calms himself down forcefully, the weather clearing up with it.

"Cool!" Peter cheers, looking out of the window in awe at this, apparently already over the shock by seeing Thor's weather powers.

"You can do that at will?" Wanda asks curious about the display as well.

"I can." Thor answers her, still feeling bad for having scared them.

Offering him a gentle smile, Pepper reassures him "We're just trying to keep everyone safe and happy at the same time. It's a bit difficult as you can tell."

"Sir." Friday pipes up just as Steve speaks up.

"It's not that we want to imprison you but we don't know how to make a safe environment for everyone involved."

"Sir!" Friday tries again, louder this time.

"What Friday?" Tony asks, now realizing she spoke up.

"Subject has awoken." She answers him, greatly alarming them all.

"_What_! How?!" Tony is the first to ask startled as they scramble up in a state of panic.

Checking his watch Bruce states "Because we been arguing for a _long_ time. Time passed for us to use the collar while she's still out cold."

"Well _shit_!" Clint mutters as scrambling to get to the door.

"Pepper, Rhodey, Sam, Scott, please go to the monitor room with the teens. Rest of us will suit up and get to the cube's room. We'll just have to see in what state she's in." Steve calls out as heading out of the room quickly.

"Can't you just knock her out again?" Rhodey asks concerned with them possibly aiming to deal with her while she's concious _and_ not wearing the collar.

"No. She's already in a bad state cos of the gas exposure throughout the day." Bruce points out as they make way to the lower levels of the building.

Following, Thor takes Loki with so they can see this child for themselves finally.

* * *

Fully armed and in gear, Steve, Clint, Tony, Natasha and Bruce stand in front of the steel doors with Loki and Thor standing nearby.

Opening the doors, Tony lets them in and they look over to the cube immediately.

Sitting up, somewhat slumped, the girl is clearly awake indeed. Her head goes instantly to the footsteps she picks up, following them perfectly.

Frowning at how tightly immobilized, muzzled and blindfolded the child is, Thor stares speechless at the sight.

"If you saw the footage of the attack... you'd get why this was needed." Steve explains when seeing the look on the faces of the two gods.

Softly growling, the girl makes immediately clear she is in a _very_ foul mood.

"She does not sound like any child I have come across." Thor tells them and looks at the rest as they surround the cube, looking at the girl intensely.

"_This _creature whas send after me?" Loki now asks, unable to comprehend why such a small, insignificant looking thing was thought to succeed in getting to him.

The sound of his voice has a strange effect however, as the girl instantly snaps her head towards him, Breathing in deep, the girl lets out a gutteral snarl in sheer hatred, attempting to free herself from the binds and makes such a fuss she ends up at the wall where the door is located. Due to her mainly being immobilized she topples over and slams head first against the glass wall, where the electric current instantly hits her body with a vengeance.

"Shit!" Clint is first to say alarmed as watching her twitch abnd convulse in response.

"Do something!" Steve yells at Tony scared she'll be electrocuted to death if they don't intervene soon.

"Friday shut it off!" Tony yells to her in response just as alarmed they are about to lose all answers.

"Certainly." Friday tells him and the electric current shuts off, though the girl keeps convulsing at the remnant electricity coarsing through her still.

"No no no!" Steve yells now, terrified they will be responsible for killing a mere child and rushes to the cube's door. "Friday open it! Now!" he orders and looks at the rest. "Bruce.. we'll get the collar on.. stay out for now." he tells the scientist who's looking on horrified.

Not about to let Steve go in alone, Tony joins him, followed by Thor who pills in Loki as well.

"Get in here brother, of those present, we are best option to tend to her." Thor tells him, ignoring the annoyed look Loki gives him in response.

Coming to her senses, the girl starts to snarl again at hearing Loki is near.

This prompts the four in the cube with her to try and subdue her. Despite her being rather tiny in comparison and beyond skinny, they still struggle to pin her down and calm her frenzied state.

"What in Valhalla.. How does she possess this... ugh.. strength!" Thor says as grunting and looks at the other three.

Taken aback as well Tony quips "What I want to know is how she manages to sound like a full grown jaguar really. Did she swallow one or something?"

Shaking his head Steve says "Focus! She'll hurt herself further!"

Snatching the collar from Thor, Loki thinks quickly and snaps it around her neck, locking it in place as she squirms wildly.

The collar takes on a golden glow as matching bracelets form on her wrists. A ripple then goes over her entire body, taking on a white hue before it fades. Her strength _seems_ to fade with it and they no longer have trouble with pinning her down.

"Thank you." Steve tells Loki grateful and offers him a curt nod.

Shocked at what happened, the girl gasps as realizing she cant feel her magic at all anymore instead of the suppression the cube put on her.

Letting her go, the four back off a little and stand wondering what to do now.

"Do we release her from the restraints?" Bruce asks from outside the cube, making them look over curious. "She's having bad effects and all.. and she's not so much a threat now right?" he adds, wanting to prevent further damage to her body.

"True. She can't take us on now." Steve agrees and eyes Tony, then Loki and Thor. "You are sure all her magic and strength is bound?" he asks the two gods hopeful.

"Yes." Thor simply answers with a nod and moves to stand in the doorway of the cube just in case. "I will block her exit in case she makes an attempt." he adds then.

Standing off to the side, Loki observes the girl intrigued by her and eager to learn more of her origins. As well as the response he got from her simply by speaking up.

Looking at Tony then, Steve checks if the man is ready as well.

Raising his suits blasters at the girl just in case Tony nods to show he's ready.

Taking a deep breath, Steve nods determined and starts to remove the restraints on her legs.

Initially squirming, she keeps still when realizing what he's doing though on high alert for any chance to attack them.

Removing the one on her legs Steve moves on those on her arms, chests and wrists. As she keeps still, Steve's brow is furrowed in clear concern, her limbs are very thin and stiff. Her chest and back now better visible concern him further with how malnourished she seems. Hesitating a moment as she angrily pulls her wrist from Steve's grasp, he grabs her arm when she tries to scramble away. "Hold still! Let me get the rest off." he tells her firmly.

Growling low at her 'tormentor', she tries to get out of his hold still.

"Stop it." Steve snaps at her, managing to get the blindfold off her.

Blinking several times and squinting at the sudden brightness, the girl eyes Tony then Steve and narrows her eyes distrustfully.

Noticing the color and look of her eyes, Thor speaks up "You spoke truth. She does resemble Loki."

Looking over to him, the girl shows fury at this words, not appreciating this whatsoever. Laying her eyes on Loki then she growls low again, though doesn't impress anyone this time since she's now bound.

"Hey. We aren't going to hurt you. Nor will we let you hurt _us_." Steve tells her, aiming to get her to focus on him instead.

Stiffening as Steve then fidgets with the muzzle straps, she drags her gaze back over to Loki.

Observing her closely, they are all taken aback when Steve removes the muzzle. Dried blood stains her lower face, her eyes are sunken, cheekbones hallow and her pale complexion now more clearly visible.

Tossing the muzzle aside where he tossed the other restraints, Steve looks her over.

"So.. lets get to business then." Tony speaks up, but sees the girl's eyes are locked onto Loki, not even acknowledging anyone else anymore.

Realizing she no longer has her magic to assist her, the girl goes over her options. One would be to cooperate, which she is not prepared to do. Attacking her target at this time is not a good idea. That leaves her with making an escape as last option.

"We freed you from the restraints, and we will tend to your health. But we're going to need something in return. Like info." Steve starts, aiming to get her talking as soon as possible.

Her eyes darting to the ones outside the cube then to Thor, the girl makes a sudden dash at Thor, catching them off guard by her speed.

Grabbing at the girl, Steve misses and gets accidentally hit by Tony's blasts who fired at the girl in attempt to stop her.

Jumping back, Loki forms a shield around himself best he can with his limited powers as he knows she targets him.

But she goes straight for Thor, making the blonde god brace himself for impact. But she completely surprises him when she takes a clever advantage of his stance, as she dives between his legs right out of the cube.

* * *

Finding new opponents outside the cube she dashes to Bruce, knocking him hard on his ass as taking him as the weakest target.

Natasha is quick to toss her tazing discs at the girl.

Dodging these, the girl is looking over to the spy angered and aims to attack her next. Arrows however fly through the air, drawing her attention to Clint instead. Dodging and deflecting them best she can, she bolts over to the archer. Using the wall as a boost then she jumps over, kicking Clint directly in the face and sending him flying. She didn't expect Steve's shield however as it collides with her and knocks her over.

This allows Steve to quickly catch up to her as Nat checks over the now bleeding Clint. Grabbing the girl by putting his arms around her from behind to pin her arms to her side and subdue her, he is however greatly surprised when she manages to break free from this hold, elbow him in the face and propels him across the room against one of the steel walls.

Having let Hulk take over after he was attacked by the girl, Bruce lost control. Hulk seeing Steve get launched angers him further and he stomps over, punching her full swing across the room to the opposite side of Steve.

Crashing agains the wall with a loud thud, the girl lets out a loud grunt as scrambling up somewhat stunned. Fuming, she lets out a loud roar at Hulk as he's making his way over.

Surprised by this, Hulk halts mid-way over.

About to head out of the cube to assist his friends, Thor sees Loki's terrified look seeing Hulk on the rampage, memories of the beating he received at Hulk's hands flooding back instantly. "Brother..?" Thor carefully asks and looks at Hulk then back at Loki. "He will not harm you. I will see to it." he tries to reassure him.

Getting over the shock, Hulk regards the pint-sized girl who roared at him and responds with a roar of his own.

This results in a short stare down between the two.

Tony now pushes past Thor after having panicked seeing he hit Steve full blast and aims to get to the girl before she's beaten to a pulp after angering Hulk to the level she has already. He pales when seeing she already races over, aiming to take on Hulk by herself apparently.

She moves far quicker than she should be while wearing the collar, ending up perched on Hulk's back with him grabbing at her with his large hands.

Not able to get hold on the slippery small girl he slams his back against the wall to try getting her off his back this way.

Yelping out in pain before growling angrily, the girl just barely hangs on by his neck. Pissed off by his actions she bites down on his shoulder hard, actually managing to pierce the skin and making Hulk roar out in pain and shock since bullets aren't able to do this. Yet this small child _is_ with her fangs for one reason or another.

Shaking violently to throw her off Hulk stumbles away, gripping at the bite after sending her finally flying off his back.

Aiming to catch her, Tony looks to where she's headed while conflicted with wanting to also tend to a fuming Hulk. As he rushes over to the girl however, he sees a shape materialize through the wall, catching the girl mid-air. Seeing Vision is now holding the girl under her arms gently, Tony lets out a sigh in relieve.

Looking behind her to see who's holding her, the girl is quick to go into a frenzy of squirming and bites down onto Vision's arm.

Not showing the faintest hints of emotion, Vision eyes her as she immediately cries out in pain and covers her mouth. Taking her reaction to his advantage, Vision floats down to the cube and deposits her down on the floor gently before standing up straight.

Heading in as well, Tony is quick to aim his weapons at her.

Seemingly hours have passed where as it was not even more than a minute or two, they are slowly recovering.

Having gotten to his feet and covering his bleeding face, Clint looks over to Steve who's stumbling over painfully.

Nat in the meantime is attempting to calm Hulk down in the corner of the room, while looking at the wound on his shoulder.

"_What.. the **.. hell!**_" Tony is first to say, looking at Loki and Thor pissed off. "_**You said she was fully bound!**_" he continues.

"She _is_! That collar is made to bind the power of gods!" Thor says loudly in defense, not about to take the blame.

Looking over at the girl Tony narrows his eyes behind the Iron Man mask "You little.." he growls, barely able to contain the urge to full out cuss the child out and throttle her.

Observing her, Vision sees her retreat to a corner of the cube to create distance and is currently hugging her knees to her chest.

She almost looks like a mere child in severe distress while in this pose, were it not for her actions to make clear she's not harmless whatsoever.

"Tony, we need help!" Steve calls over as they approached Hulk when Nat doesn't seem to be succeeding with calming him.

Heading out of the cube not too sure he's doing the right thing with leaving Thor, Loki and Vision alone in there, Tony eyes Thor when the god speaks up.

"Please close the door, we will deal with the child, Stark."

Heading out, Tony complies, not sure about that being a good idea. But at least the girl can't make another run for it. "Friday, close the door. Do not activate the electric current." Tony says then and heads over to help with Hulk.

* * *

_There ya go, chapter 8 already! Hope you all like the fast pace and action in this chapter! Told you things were going to get interesting ;) Chapter 9 should be coming along soon and hope you all have an awesome day! Reviews are very much appreciated as always!_


	9. Awkward mornings

**Warning: **Chapter contains violence.

* * *

Taking a step closer, Vision sees the girl flinch in response and decides not to approach further. "Child, you will have to talk. You will not be leaving." he tells her, having informed himself of the recent events while on his way back from a mission in New Mexico. This being the reason he knew where to head to assist the other Avengers.

Finally able to calm, Hulk turns back into Bruce and he let's out a pained groan as covering the painful, bleeding bite.

Relieved to see him calmed down, the rest help him to his feet and open the steel doors where the rest of them are eager to assist them.

Having already retrieved bandages and other needed supplies, Sam, Scott, Rhodey and Pepper swarm the room, followed by Happy and the teens.

"Gods.." Pepper gasps, trying to put pressure on the bite with bandages and stop the bleeding for Bruce. "You need to get to the med-bay." she continues in a worried tone.

Taking care of his own wounds, Clint looks over to the cube. "Are you guys sure they're safe in there?" he asks, worried the girl will manage to do a number on Thor, Loki and Vision as well.

"No, but out of all of us.. they will be best to handle her." Steve says in a quiet tone, kicking himself for having underestimated the child completely. She poses a far greater threat than he thought.

"Are you okay?" Tony asks, looking Steve over and sinces at the scorch marks on his suit as the teens come running over.

Hugging into Steve, Wanda is clearly upset he's injured, while Pietro checks on Clint.

"I'll be sore for a bit, but I'll be fine." Steve tells Tony, patting his shoulder reassuringly. "And don't blame yourself, you tried to stop her. Sometimes we just get in each other's way." he adds, well aware of the fact Tony is upset with himself for having hit Steve with his blasters.

Seeming to relax a little, Tony nods in acceptance, taking the words to heart.

Kissing Wanda on the top of her head, Steve hugs her into him gently, hiding his wince in pain. "We're gonna try and get her to talk. So please go back to the monitor room with Peter and Pietro. We have no idea what she'll do next." he tells her then, gently pushing her towards the door.

Happy is quick to start ushering all three teens out of the room as reassuring the adults will be okay, as Sam looks over to Bruce with Scott.

"I'll get him and Clint to med-bay." Scott offers, supporting Bruce and wincing at the amount of blood that's still coming from the wound.

"I'm coming with." Pepper says instantly, still attempting to keep pressure on the wound as following the two.

Waiting for the injured people and teens to leave the room, Tony, Steve, Nat, Thor, Loki and Vision are left. Turning their attention fully towards the girl they observe her. She hasn't moved from the corner she backed herself into at all as peeking through her grimey, sleek, black hair at Vision. Since he is the one closest to her and she doesn't trust his intentions whatsoever.

"We will not hurt you." Thor now speaks up, hoping reassuring her will gain them some trust between them. At least enough to coax her into talking to them.

Eyeing Thor for a split second, she looks back to Vision instead.

"You are out of options. Co-operating is the most sensible course of action." Vision tells her in an even, emotionless tone, trying to read her bodylanguage in the hopes to predict her actions.

Remaining silent, she simply looks at Vision, her green eyes fixated on the man.

Rubbing the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly, Thor isn't sure how to approach or deal with the child, feeling at a loss.

Keeping silent, Loki busies himself with quietly observing the girl as trying to figure out where she could have come from and who send her.

Rubbing his burn marks gingerly, Steve stands to the side of the cube looking at her. Noticing her eyes dart to him when he moves slightly closer to the corner from the outside he desides to go with his instinct. Squatting down to be at a lower, less imposing level as one does with children, he sees her move away from him a little. "Hey, stop. We told you, we won't hurt you if you don't hurt us." he tries to reassure her in a more or less gentle tone. But by the look in her eyes she doesn't believe him at all.

Feeling at a stalemate, Thor tries to lighten the mood to get everyone less tense, hoping it will aid them. "Loki." he starts, crossing his arms and glancing to his brother.

"What." Loki responds evenly, not taking his eyes off the girl for even a second.

"Have you something to tell me?" Thor continues, a small smirk forming on his lips.

Confused, Loki simply stares at Thor now.

"The child resembles you, but is not _you_ yourself. Have you a secret mate hidden away somewhere?" Thor jokes, his smile increasing.

Widening his eyes at the joke, Loki is anything but amused with his brother and actually feels some panic rise up in his chest.

"Yknow.. you might be on to something here, Point Break." Tony joins in, appreciating the light hearted talk. "Got any secret mini Loki's running around, Reindeer Games?" he asks him, removing his helmet to reveal a wide grin.

Clenching his jaw, _really_ not amused, Loki refrains from commenting.

"I don't know Loki.. they have a good point." Natasha quips and adds "Are you sure she's not yours?"

Having listened in silence, the girl is fuming, her rage having come to a boiling point at their joking.

"Hey kid, who's your daddy?" Tony teases, sending the girl flying over the edge.

Lunging herself to her feet she snarls "I have **no **father! I _disowned _him after he _**murdered my mother**_!I am here to do a _job _and take revenge in _**blood**__! Nothing more!_"

Taken aback by her ourburst of rage they stand gaping at her.

Losing control further the girl then dodges Vision, bolting to Loki and is on him before Thor and Vision full and well realize she moved. Taking out her anger on Loki who's caught off guard as well she has already pounced him.

A cry of pain follows as Loki feels her tear into his neck. In the second Thor and Vision make way to him he reacts in instinct, sending a blastwave directly against the girl, propelling her off him.

Slamming against the opposite wall with a loud thud and a crack the girl crumbles into a heap at the floor.

Holding his neck panicking at the pain and the amount of blood, Loki is somewhat slumped down and panting when Thor gets to him.

Looking his brother over and pressing down hard onto the bite, Thor supports him as quickly moving to get him out of the cube asap. "Open the door, he needs aid!" he yells then, glad Friday is quick to comply and looks over his shoulder to the girl as the door closes back up, leaving Vision in there alone.

"She is unconcious." Vision informs them, guessing this will reassure them about him being alone in there.

Nodding, Thor pulls Loki with towards the steel doors, aiming to get him to med-bay.

"_Good_!" Loki snaps angrily when hearing he knocked her out with the blast. "She attacked me! I _had_ to!" he adds, now starting to worry this will turn around and 'bite' him in the butt later.

"You defended yourself, we know." Thor reassures him, not blaming him, but none too happy with the result either.

Watching the pair leave, the four remaining behind exchange worried glances.

Kneeling beside the girl, Vision checks her over. She doesn't look _too_ banged up, but is definitely out cold.

* * *

Monitoring her closely in shifts throughout the night and tending to the wounded, the team has been discussing the situation and trying to come up with ideas on how to approach the girl when she wakes. With friday on constant watch, as well as at least two of the team monitoring they can only wait for her to wake up for now.

* * *

Seated at the breakfast table, minus Steve, Tony, as well as Clint who's sporting a bruised and swollen face covered with some bandages after he got out of med-bay, the current occupants are discussing the previous day.

Appearing in the doorway, Thor rumbles a "Good morning."

"Good morning, Thor. How is Loki?" Bruce greets him back, a bandage covering the bite after it was desinfected and stitched up. Not having seen the trickster since Thor took him to med-bay, Bruce is keen to know if he's okay. More so out of instinct than genuine care about Loki.

Appreciating the interest, Thor gestures behind him where Loki is following reluctant.

Having been in a very foul mood since the attack, Loki's face is sporting a death glare. His neck bandaged up and fairly sore still, he tries to ignore everyone as not wanting to be there in the first place.

Sitting down, Thor gestures for Loki to take seat beside him.

Huffing a little, Loki had all but demanded they'd have their breakfast in their room instead, but Thor refused and insisted they join the rest, forcing Loki to be social.

"Any news on the child?" Thor asks then, trying to ignore the awkwardness that filled the room because of Loki and him casually attempting to join them.

"None.." Bruce answers and eyes Loki tensely before realizing the man must be in pain still as well, god or not. "How is the pain?" he asks Loki softly, mainly so not to put him on the spot.

Frowning at the scientist, Loki didn't expect him to show interest or care at all. "Fine." he mutters after a moment and looks over the table at the foreign food. Only a few things he recognizes from his previous visit to Midgard, but the bulk of it is unknown to him. Not feeling anything for engaging into further conversation with Bruce he busies himself with looking anywhere else but at the man.

Loading his plate, Thor seems to be well aware of what Midgard food is good to eat and even rivals Peter and Pietro's plates. Noticing the two gaping at him Thor frowns. "What?" he asks, in the middle of stacking more pancakes on top of his already full plate.

Grinning, the boys seem highly amused at Thor's apetite and continue eating while watching the blonde god.

"Ah! You two have a healthy apetite as well I see, good!" Thor states pleased in a loud voice before looking at Loki, his smile dropping instantly.

Having leaned back in his seat, Loki opted for observing the rest, no longer showing interest in the food or drinks.

"Brother?" Thor asks, his voice hinting at worry.

Loki has done this before, especially in the very start of his sentence, as well as after Frigga's death and throughout the years at particular uncomfortable times. He however hasn't done this for some time, so Thor is particularly concerned about this indicating at a back slide.

Planning to talk about this in private later, Thor decides not to push the matter in the company of the rest. Loki being notoriously closed off about his private business, Thor is convinced that if he confronted his brother it would backfire on him. He however does grab an empty plate and puts some food on it he figures Loki will like before placing it before his brother, giving him a fork to go with it.

Eyeing Thor, the plate and back again, Loki contemplates trying the food.

"These are eggs, this is a type of bread, this is fruit, including the ones you said you liked. And this is a dish made of flower, eggs and some other stuff. They call it pancake." Thor exlains, hoping Loki's hesitation is due to him not knowing the food and not due to him being reluctant to eat at all.

Trying the fruit he vaguely remembers from his previous visit, Loki eats slowly but it seems to satisfy Thor anyway.

The table having gone mostly quiet as the others watch Loki closely, the atmosphere grows tenser with the minute.

Seeing Thor pour himself coffee, Rhodey speaks up "So uh.. Loki, do you drink coffee or tea? If you are familiar with either that is."

Looking over to the man, Loki eyes him as trying to figure out who he is again before saying "I care not for the liquid you call coffee."

Taking this as him not knowing what tea is yet, Bruce pours him a cup of it and carefully places it in front of the raven haired man.

Both tense, Bruce and Loki stare at each other for a moment.

Loki is the first to break eye contact then as he looks down to the steaming beverage.

"It's not poisoned.." Bruce feels the need to point out when seeing how hesitant Loki is about trying it.

Looking him back in the eyes, Loki observes Bruce's bodylanguage for hints of deception before lifting the cup. Sniffing it, he is surprised at the herbal scent to it. This he _is _familiar with in Asgard. Taking a sip he finds it tasting pleasant enough and takes another more confident sip.

Relaxing a little, Bruce turns his attention back to his own food and tea.

Seeming to really like this 'tea' Loki relaxes as well, albeit slowly. At least this will ease his stay on Midgard somewhat in his eyes.

Staring at Thor as he devours the food on his plate in no time and seeming to _really _like coffee, Peter completely forgets to eat his own food.

"Starstruck again, kid?" Sam whispers to him, chuckling at this resulting in Peter blushing and stammering.

Smiling, Thor looks over the table at the rest before stating "I have missed you all, friends. And I am keen to get to know those who I haven't yet had the pleasure to meet before now."

"Your presence has been missed, Thor." Vision tells him, but eyes Loki closely in a wary manner.

"This.. is weird though right?" Wanda asks no one in particular, feeling the stress in the air clear as day.

"Very." Natasha agrees and has mentally mapped out the location of all knives as well as the quickest route to Loki should he try anything.

Not feeling the need to comment, Loki simply slowly eats some food and drinks the tea, keeping his thoughts on the matter to himself.

"It will take adjusting. And hopefully the strangeness will fade.." Thor points out, though hopeful, he knows there is little chance of Loki ever being accepted let alone trusted by the rest of the Avengers.

"Not likely.. Thor." Sam tells him, not aiming to hurt the guy but trying to be honest.

"Why not? You guys said all of us have blood on our hands.. one way or another no one here is innocent right?" Peter points out, not understanding why Loki doesn't get a chance like all of them have.

"Yes. But not to the extent he has." Natasha tells him coldly, as she is surpressing her emotions to keep in control of herself.

Looking between Natasha and Loki, Peter sighs as he doesn't agree with her much on that but keeps his tongue for now. If no one else does, he's still planning on giving Loki a chance himself, believing Thor about how Loki has been doing good deeds to redeem himself for his past.

Eyeing Loki, Pietro isn't really sure what to make of the man. Having met Thor a few times and half of those being as enemies, he's not so fast to write Loki off just yet. Even if he's on high alert just in case.

Noticing her twin's tense stare, Wanda leans over to him whispering "Maybe we gained a new potential ally.. Or maybe _two_ enemies instead."

Nodding at her while not taking his eyes off Loki, Pietro was thinking the same thing. If Loki indeed has halted his villainous ways, maybe they will have another powerful ally on their side.

"We still have to set up those rules by the way." Rhodey points out, which further renses up the room.

Rising from his seat, Loki sends them in a panic at the sudden movement.

Having grabbed her gun she keeps on her at all times, Natasha aims it right at him in a reflex while the rest also seem battle ready, having taken a battle stance or armed themselves with something resembling a weapon.

Apart from Peter, Bruce and Scott, all seem to expect an attack while all Loki really did was rising from his seat.

Seeming unphased by the reaction, Loki regards them a moment before walking off, leaving Thor to be forced to follow him or drag him back.

Choosing to follow his brother, Thor looks over his shoulder to the table with clear disappointment in his eyes.

* * *

Having watched them leave the room stays tense and silent before they one by one start to ease up and disarm.

"Well, that went well." Sam is the first to say, breaking the deafening silence that took over.

"I've lost my apetite. I'll go find Happy." Peter mutters and shoves his mostly full plate away from him, getting up and heading towards his room with the intent to get his backpack and go find Happy to be taken to school already as he's his driver the days he stays over at the Facility.

"Pete.." Pepper tries, but is promptly ignored by the teen. Shaking her head she lets out a soft sigh and tries to finish her breakfast, having a day of meetings ahead of her and needing the energy to be able to function.

"He'll calm down." Rhodey reassures her, not understanding why Peter seems to have taken a liking to Loki so easily while knowing all he's done in NYC.

"Who will?" Steve asks as walking into the room from a side door, dressed in running attire and sweating heavily. Having gone running as he does most mornings he wonders what he missed.

"Peter." Scott answers him and takes another bite of his pancakes.

Feeling the tension in the air, Steve gets a bottle of water from the fridge and sits down at the table looking at the rest somewhat worried. " Did I miss something?" he asks then as growing increasingly worried seeing their facial expressions.

"A very _weird_ attempt at a family breakfast with two gods." Wanda explains to him with a shrug, trying to calm herself down from being influenced by how agitated everyone is.

Alarmed, Steve is quick to say "What? I thought we said Loki shouldn't be in the kitchen area!"

"We haven't officially though. We started to discuss the rules when the girl woke up." Bruce points out as finishing his toast and tea, getting up to go clear his dishes.

"Well, then we will do that asap." Steve says adamant in response before looking at the twins. "Are you two okay?" he asks them quickly before realizing what they said about Peter. "Did Peter leave?" he adds quickly and gets to his feet.

"We're fine. I seriously doubt Thor would let Loki harm anyone by the way. Sure he startled me too but jeez guys." Wanda tells him a bit snippy, not liking anything about the situation at all.

"Nor would we." Vision points out and offers Wanda a smile, hoping to cheer her up a bit.

"Peter seems to have taken a real liking to Loki. That will be a problem. He headed off in a huff to get ready for school already." Rhodey explains to Steve as finishing his own breakfast.

Letting out a sigh, Steve is not exactly happy with how the day is starting off so far.

"I will check on him." Bruce offers, more so for his own peace of mind than of the others. Heading off, the scientist then makes way over to the irate teen.

* * *

Heading into the monitor room, Steve checks on Clint and Tony who are currently taking the shift of monitoring the still unconcious girl as all of them have been doing throughout the night in pairs.

"And the hair.." Steve picks up being said by Clint as he heads inside.

"Hey Cap." Tony greets him, clearly not in the best of moods by the look he has on his face.

"Hey." Steve greets back and takes seat in one of the chairs, his eyes going to the monitors. "Any change" he asks, though expecting the answer already.

"Nope. Not a single second of conciousness. I'm getting worried actually." Clint tells him, his face serious and calculating.

"That's why we've been running scans.." Tony points out to his friend, though can't deny he feels worried as well.

Rubbing his chin in thought, Steve nods slowly. "She looks awful. Whatever state she is in.. it isn't only due to the attack and gas exposure. Nor her fighting us. She weighs like nothing, she's skinny and malnourished. Plus she looks sickly pale. Enemy or not.." he says and trails off.

"Yeah, we were discussing that too. The list of enemies of Loki is long, even if he's supposedly 'redeeming' himself. Which I still don't believe by the way.. So who can be the one who sends a girl like that after him?" Clint ponders out loud, gently touching his sore face to test if it's starting to heal yet.

"He may be redeeming himself like Thor says he is. I don't believe Thor would lie to us. But still, I want the proof before my own eyes just for my peace of mind. As for the girl.. Who would be sick enough to send a _child _after Loki?" Steve asks, disgusted by the idea of using a child like a tool, a pawn, a _puppet. _

Humming in thought, Tony seems to be wondering this too, but more about something in particular. "What if.. And this is going to sound crazy but hear me out.." he starts as thinking on his words carefully.

Eyeing the man, both Clint and Steve turn to him, focusing their full attention on him as he has a calculating look. Knowing this look well by now, from when he's inventing something or coming up with a big plan, they are eager to find out what the inventor is on to.

".. What if Thor's joke wasn't all that far from the truth?" Tony then continues.

At first puzzled, Clint then quickly catches on and widens his eyes. "No.. _no way!_ Although.. she _does_ look like.. No. It's _too_ crazy." he rambles in response while Steve simply thinks on this theory in thoughtful silence.

"I mean.. If I hated someone enough, using their _own kid_ against them would be an option. I'm not saying _I'd _do that.. it's beyond wrong. But it _would _make sense." Tony points out, hoping he's completely wrong about this theory.

"It's a possibility. We'll have to discuss it with the rest." Steve states and eyes Tony with a serious look. "You may have another problem. Well it concerns all of us, but you mainly as you are his.. well _dad_ really." he then tells the man who grows instantly more concerned. "Peter seemed to be rather.. _annoyed_ earlier.. I've been told, when Loki and Thor were not very much welcomed at breakfast apparently. I wasn't present myself. Nothing seems to have happened but some agitation and tense conversation though. Loki left and Thor followed. Peter seemed angered at the reception Loki got from the rest." Steve then explains calmly, trying not to send Tony into a state of panic.

"That kid.." Clint mutters, making it clear he's not happy with this news either.

"I've told him to stay away from that psycho many times so far. It's like Loki's a damn magnet or something." Tony states, not the least bit happy, even more so with Loki and Thor being at breakfast to begin with. Groaning then, he runs a hand through his hair sighing deep. "I'll talk to him.. _again_. He better start listening to me about this, I'm gonna have to take more drastic measures if he keeps this up." he says then, determined to make Peter heed his wishes on the matter one way or another.

Nodding, Steve offers a slight smile of reassurance before saying "You're not alone in this, Tony. We'll keep him safe, including the rest of our family. I'll go talk to Thor in a bit to make clear showing up like that isn't going to work. Playing house with Loki won't go over well with any of us. It's just not."

"Yeah, it definitely isn't. I don't think I'm capable of believing Loki turning '_good guy_'. Even if that makes me a hypocrit." Clint admits, leaning back in his chair, propping up his feet on a nearby table.

"I actually do think it's possible. And I want to believe Thor. It's just.. difficult and complicated. I've seen others turn ally, even Bucky... I've seen you Clint, Natasha, Wanda, Pietro.. all of you turned allies. We've come to blows as enemies within the family and managed to turn from that. I'm not ruling it out is what I'm saying, but I'm not stupid either." Steve points out, struggling with his thoughts on the matter.

"Yeah, I know we've all done our fair share of questionable and downright evil stuff. But still, this is _Loki_ we're talking about here. Mister take-over-the-world. Mister trying-to-kill-Thor-and-friends. He tried to dominate an _entire _planet like a tyrant. That's a whole different level of messed-up-in-the-head evil." Tony points out, adamant Loki is a lost cause.

* * *

_Sorry for the slight delay in posts! Been working on writing more of the story in the meantime, as I prefer doing it by hand then typing it out later. Good news is though that I'm barely at page 135 with typing it out and posting it here, while I have written about 350 pages total so far. So plenty of chapters are still to come! Anyway, have an awesome day and I hope you like the chapter! Reviews and likes are always very much appreciated!_


	10. The trouble with bullies

**Warning: **chapter contains violence and crude language.

* * *

"Pietro, please pay attention." Bruce tells him, attempting to keep him focused on his work while they are in his lab.

Looking over from where he's seated near a window, Pietro sighs and casts his eyes down on the schoolwork before him on the desk, putting down the pen he is holding. "This is _boring.._" he mutters and looks back outside the window.

"Biology is an important subject, Pietro." Bruce reminds him, though this is not a response that's rare for the teen.

It has been continuously difficult to keep Pietro's attention on topics he doesn't really care for, especially when homeschooling him.

Sighing when seeing Pietro is now ignoring him, Bruce looks over to Wanda who's attempting to manneuver her pen into writing without holding it herself. Facepalming, Bruce realizes this isn't going to be a very productive lesson today.

Appearing through the wall suddenly, Vision materializes beside Wanda, startling her and resulting in her pen blowing up on the spot.

Letting out a shriek as ink goes everywhere, on the desk, the books, her work, her clothes and her skin Wanda is anything but happy. "_**Vis!**_ I told you to _stop _doing that!" she tells him annoyed and glares at him.

Holding up placating hands Vision is quick to apologize "My apologies, I did not mean to scare you." Walking over, looks at the mess and winces.

"It's all over me!" she groans, seeing the state her clothes and skin are in.

Holding on to the desk before him, Bruce needs a moment to calm himself down from the sudden explosion and shriek, hoping not to let the Other Guy take over.

Pietro in the meantime walks over to his sister, assessing the damage and winces at it as well. "Stay here, I'll go get something to clean it up with." he offers and dashes out of the lab.

"It's okay Vis, just.. _stop_ appearing suddenly. Use the doors!" Wanda tells Vision then, seeing as he feels rather bad about it.

"I will." he's quick to promise her, looking over to Bruce then to see if the scientist is managing to calm. "If I may, it appears you are far more worked up than your usual self, doctor Banner. I take it this is a result of our new guests? One in particular even?" he asks, to which Bruce nods.

"Both. But I guess Loki mostly. The Other Guy is agitated.. harder to keep calm. He wants to repear the beat down he gave Loki in the tower. He says Loki is a bad guy and doesn't belong here with us."Bruce explains and takes a few deep breaths to further gain full control of himself.

"And what do _you_ think?" Wanda asks him curious about his opinion on the matter as one of the more level-headed and non-judgemental people she knows.

Returning to the lab, Pietro found some tissues, rubbing alcohol and some soap and walks back over to Wanda. Hearing her question he looks over to Bruce, eager to his his answer as well.

Sitting down on the edge of his desk, Bruce regards the twins and Vision as thinking on his answer. "Well.. Honestly, it's hard to believe Loki is doing any good acts that are helpful and beneficial for others. But, I know many of us have a dark past, or are still struggling. It would be wrong for me to say it's impossible or that he doesn't deserve a chance. Since all of us got that chance. But I will need to see clear proof of it or some indication he really _has _changed for the better, despite my trust in Thor. He wouldn't put anyone knowingly in harm's way, it's not him." he tells them, giving them his honest opinion best he can.

"It is improbable. But _not _impossible. I could do research on the matter, perhaps discuss this with people that have witnessed Loki's actions to redeem himself." Vision offers, seeing gathering more evidence as the most logical coarse of action.

Shaking his head in dismissal, Bruce says "No, we need you here to deal with the girl and just in case we are right about Loki not having changed.

Attempting to get the ink off her skin Wanda nods to Vision at this. "You're the strongest, together with Thor. And since I'm _apparently_ not allowed near the girl to help.." she states, making it clear it's an aim to get that confirmed officially.

"For now, you and your brother and Peter should stay clear of her." Vision is quick to confirm, not feeling the need to go into depth about it while assisting the twins in cleaning the place up.

"It doesn't seem like this is going to be a productive class today. Wanda, go and shower and change clothes to get the rest of the stains off you. Pietro, when you're done cleaning up the stains on the desk you're free to fo to the common room and wait until Sam gets you for your next class. Remember, no movies and no videogames. I trust you alone in there, don't make me regret it." Bruce tells them, giving up on trying to make the class last any longer.

Nodding, the twins get to it eagerly, happy to be dismissed.

Turning to Vision, Bruce beckons him and waits for him to come over before asking "Can I borrow you for a moment? I want to run something by you." Sitting down behind his desk, he pauses to think before saying "I was hoping you'd take a look at a project I've been working on to hopefully prevent the Other Guy taking over accidentally when it's the least wanted. As well as have a way to calm him down quicker."

Intrigued, Vision come closer as Bruce gathers a stack of papers and notes he been working on to show him.

* * *

"Loki, brother, you are not being logical." Thor tells Loki as watching his brother emerge from the bathroom after taking a shower.

Wearing clean clothes and making sure never to be in a state of undress in front of anyone, especially Thor, much to the man's confusion, Loki gives him a dark look. "On the contrary. Is it not what they want? It makes them _happy _does it not? Making people happy is my job now." Loki says in a sarcastic tone, dripping with frustration and masking a hurt inside of him.

Having learned to see through this over the years, Thor raises an eyebrow, not impressed with his attitude. "I have told you many times before brother, to redeem yourself you are not expected to self-destruct doing so. You take it _too_ far, out of anger, out of hurt." Thor reminds him, making clear he's not buying it.

"I am _**not**_ hurt! I could care less what _your_ precious friends, your _family_ thinks of me! You think so little of me that you think the opinion of mere mortals bothers me?!" Loki snaps at him, his frustration skyrocketing.

"Loki! You listen well brother..! I do _not_ fall for your lies, you know this to be true! Have I not stood by you since day one of your sentence? Have I not stood by every fit you threw, every rampage you went on, every tantrum you had? I have learned your _true_ nature, your _true_ heart, brother. I have learned to understand you, as well as your true words. You speak, yet your words carry entirely different meaning underneath. It has taken me long, _too long_, but I learned to understand your language. That of your tongue as well as your body." Thor snaps back, his voice loud and his eyes serious. Intently watching Loki's reaction, he then falls silent.

Narrowing his eyes displeased Thor saw right through the façade, and though he is pleased with being understood by someone, he is frustrated with the confrontation. A hint of amusement then sparks in his eyes as he speaks up in an attempt to safe face "What is it Midgardians use for this type of situation..? Ah yes. _Whatever_, Thor." he smugly tells him.

Taken aback a moment, Thor raises his eyebrows up high at Loki who takes this as confusion and widents his smug smirk. Thor however scowls seconds later and strides over, snatching Loki by his upper arm as he is backing away from the irate Thor. Giving him a rough shake, Thor growls "You would be wise to hold your disrespectful tongue, Loki. You owe me more respect than you are showing me this day, you arre well aware of this! Need I remind you what the consequences are of not heeding my warnings on matters of respect towards me as your elder brother?"

Widening his eyes a fraction as thoroughly reminded Thor has adopted a very different manner of dealing with Loki's taunts and unwanted behavior over the last decade.

About to say more, Thor looks over to the door however when hearing a knocking. Stopping Loki from responding in what most likely would have been a colorful way to shoo away whoever is behind the door by gripping his arm tightly in warning, Thor calls out "Enter."

Opening the door, Steve looks in and respectfully pauses as asking "Am I interrupting?"

"Yes! Begone." Loki mutters at the captain though this earns him another shake from Thor to shut him up.

"You are not. Please come in, Captain." Thor tells him in a friendly tone.

Glancing at the interaction between the brothers, Steve notes how Thor is seemingly taking his brother in hand, pleasantly surprised by this. Apparently the man is _very _determined about guiding Loki with his redeeming process. Having picked up some of the conversation before he knocked, due to his impeccable hearing, further confirms this for Steve. "I won't keep you long. I wanted to discuss a few things with you both." he tells them as stepping inside the room.

Letting go of Loki, Thor turns to Steve to give him his full attention and gestures for the man to proceed.

Wanting to be tactful about it, Steve chooses his words with care. "I've been informed you joined for breakfast. I understand...It didn't go so well?" he asks them, feeling a little tense with starting the topic.

Loki is quick to roll his eyes and lose interest in the conversation instantly. Sitting down in a livingroom chair in the corner of the room, he picks up a book from the nearby coffee table and opens it.

Taking the hint that Loki has no intention of listening to what he has to say, Steve sighs and turns to just Thor, not about to drop it.

Regarding Loki, Thor shakes his head in disapproval before looking back at Steve. "No, it didn't go well. I take blame, my brother was against attending. I insisted on it and it has backfired on us." he admits honestly, his face apologetic.

"Yeah.. it was not the best idea Thor. If it had been only you and Loki we are dealing with, perhaps it would not have gone down so.. _tensely._ Everyone needs more time to get used to the idea of your presence. And not everyone is as receptive of giving Loki a chance. I wish you would have waited, or at least discuss it first to see if it was a plan to carry out without much issue. I think that doing it so suddenly without warning set things up for failure." Steve tells him with a similar look, as he wishes it wouldn't upset Thor to point out.

Nodding slowly, Thor sits down on the foot of his bed and lets out a deep sigh. "I understand that now. I acted before thinking it through fully, I apologize." he tells Steve calmly and leans his arms on his legs, his hands folded.

"I am not willing to tell you to stay in this room only, you're not prisoners. _You_ are family to us, Thor." Steve reassures him

To which Loki scoffs more than annoyed for the man addressing _his_ brother as such.

Ignoring Loki for now, Steve offers Thor a smile when he looks up at him hopefull he still means this.

"Do you?" Thor feels the need to ask despite this.

Steve is quick to nod at him. "As for your brother.." Steve starts, glancing at Loki himself to see if he's listening. Looking for all intents and purposes as if he's simply reading, Steve isn't buying it and continues ".. I am trusting you Thor, and I refuse to believe him undeserving of a chance. I am not going to be dishonest with you about it, I will need proof despite my trust in you. I need it for my own peace of mind and because I have more than myself to think about here. There are many under this roof that are in my protection. I take that vvery serious, you understand that right?"

Thor nods to this, looking over to Loki then who has actually looked up in surprise at Steve's words.

Turning to Loki directly, Steve speaks up again "I could threthen you about 'if you don't' and 'should you'.. But i'm not going to. It speaks for itself, so there is no need. I will give you the courtesy of some respect.. expecting the same in return, if only for the sake of Thor. But yes, I _will _give you a chance, as I'm hoping what we've been told about your redeeming proces is all true. Please don't make me regret this, Loki."

Regarding the captain, looking for hints of deception, Loki however sees none. Staying silent as watching him for several seconds as going over the words in his head, he then nods curt in acknowledgement and acceptance.

Returning the gesture, Steve then turns back to Thor. "Let's discuss it first next time you aim to join with him, please. With the child to deal with.. We're all just quite on edge already, not an ideal setting to attempt reconsiling." he suggests to which Thor says.

"I will. But for now Loki has expressed a wish to remain in the quarters, partially to heal and rest."

Observing Loki, his gaze going to his neck which is covered by Loki's still wet hair and looking as if not having healed much, Steve nods. "Very well. Just know that neither of you are prisoners. And we will need your assistence when the child wakes up." he informs them before asking Loki "Do you need new bandages to cover the bite? Are you in pain?"

Snorting ironically Loki mutters "Don't act like you genuinely care. I'm _fine._"

"_Loki!"_ Thor is already scolding him, earning him a displeased look from his younger brother for him doing this in the company of Captain America, of all people.

"Perhaps not as much as I do for others, and definitely not as much as I do for my family and friends.. But I _do_ care, Loki. And since you clearly took a shower, you'll need fresh bandages. Maybe even a check up to see how it's healing." Steve tells him in a calm but serious tone.

Responding with a scoff, Loki makes clear he doesn't believe Steve, mostly out of spite and him being defensive.

"Thank you, friend Rogers. Fresh bandages will be appreciated. I will see to it that the bite is looked after, even if he doesn't seem interested." Thor instead thanks Steve for the both of them, understanding why Loki responded that way. But he is displeased with the trickster either way.

"I'll fetch you some then." Steve tells him with a friendly smile and leaves their room, planning on thinking on what all he just observed.

* * *

Doing his best to pay attention to the teacher, Peter taps his pen on his notebook while sitting in the last class before lunchtime. His stomach growling at him for three classes now, as he didn't eat at all enough at breakfast, he rubs it idly to try and shut it up.

"_Dude.._" Ned, Peter's best friend who's seated at the desk next to him, whispers to him as having heard it several times now.

"Sorry." Peter tells him sheepishly, trying to will his stomach to be quiet without much luck.

"Didn't eat?" Ned asks, slightly louder, wondering why his friend seems to be starving.

"Too little. We had some.. issues at breakfast. We got some unexpected guests." Peter tells him louder as well.

"Who?" Ned is eager to ask, excited to hear the latest news regarding the Avengers.

"Can't say here, will tell you later in private maybe." Peter replies, not noticing their convo has been picked up by the teacher and several students.

_"__**Mister Parker!**_ Could you _kindly_ grace us with your undivided attention?" the teacher snaps loudly, startling Peter into looking at him flustered.

Snickering, the class looks at him, causing him to go even redder in the face.

"S-sorry mister Smith." Peter mumbles sheepishly in response.

"Don't worry mister Smith, it must be Parker's fame going to his head over being '_Stark's intern'_ amd all. He thinks he's _all that _now, it seems." Peter's nemesis and long time bully Flash quips, making the class burst out in laughter at Peter's expense. Never missing a chance to pick on Peter and ridicule his claims about _the_ Tony Stark showing interest in him, Flash makes sure to make it as unlikely as possible Peter's telling the truth.

With no option but to take it, including the rest of Flash's bullying as he can't fight him or tell him the real truth, Peter tries to ignore him again like he tries each time.

"Right Parker? Tell us all about how Stark supposedly approached you personally for internship." Flash continues, not letting Peter get off so easily.

Not stepping in at all, mister Smith eyes Peter then Flash and back, seemingly simply observing the exchange.

"Nothing to say? Maybe because it's all a big _lie?_" Flash continues, a wide smirk on his face.

Eyeing the clock, Peter internally groans as wishing it was lunchtime already so he'd be freed from the torment.

"It's _not_!" Ned defends his friend, but this doesn't go over well with either Peter nor Flash.

"Shut up.." Peter whispers to him quickly, not wanting him to accidentally blurt out more than he should as Ned is aware of pretty much all concerning Peter's identity and home situation.

"You need others to fight for you again Parker? How sad." Flash taunts Peter in response, sneering at Ned for _daring _to take Peter's side.

"Okay, settle down now." mister Smith says half heartedly, realizing he should probably diffuse the situation, even if doing so reluctantly. Honestly he doesn't believe Peter's claim either and is all for seeing him be humbled and put in his place.

The bell ringing not long after indicate's Peter's freedom and he all but dashes out of the classroom to get away.

Taking advantage of this, Flash trips Peter right outside the door by sticking out his leg, sending him faceplanting.

Grunting, Peter isn't as hurt as Flash hoped, due to his enhancement, but he did get his lip cut on his tooth and is bleeding a little.

Roaring with laughter, Flash looks on as Peter scrambles up, covering his bleeding lip with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"What the _hell_ Flash!" Peter snaps angrily, somewhat shocked at Flash's bullying escalating to him actually ending up bleeding.

"_Ooooh _ Penis Parker got some fire in him! Who knew!" Flash mocks him, laughing louder as joined by his possé and a group of random observing students.

"What's going on here?" the principle, Jonathan Reeves speaks up, seeing the gathering crowd and walked over.

"Parker fell over his backpack straps, blaming me for it." Flash is quick to tell him with a casual shrug.

Eyeing Flash, then Peter and back, Reeves huffs and says "Well, get that cleaned up Parker and the rest of you go get lunch. No loitering in the hallways."

Smirking at Peter as walking towards the cafeteria, Flash shoulder checks him.

Glaring at him, Peter sighs knowing he can't retaliate and heads to the men's bathroom to clean up his face and hold some wet tissue against it to counter the swelling.

Having followed him, Ned is trying to come up with something encouraging to say but draws a blank. He has witnessed Flash's bullying for ages now and feels pretty much powerless to do anything to help his friend.

Flash being the rich brat with important parents, the teachers do nothing and Peter is unable to tell Flash exactly what's what without compromising his secret identity. Little can be done.

"He should be punched in his ugly mug." Ned states, angry at how unfair the situation is.

"I can't Ned. I'll end up being the one in trouble. And I just.. can't, it's not _me_." Peter tells him in a disheartened tone, as part of him wants to punch Flash right in the face as well. But it's not Spider-man's way to take revenge on a highschool bully by beating him up.

"Yeah, I know.. just sayin'." Ned tells him, knowing this already but wishes it was an option for Peter, it would definitely put Flash in his place.

"I know." Peter says, sighing disappointed. Checking his face in the mirror he sees he has a fat lip and it's quite red, but will heal soon enough. "Let's get some lunch." he says then, heading out of the bathroom and making way to the cafeteria, with Ned at his side. Standing in line, Peter checks his wallet to see if he has enough money to get at least a substantial meal. Grimacing at the little amount he finds he rubs his face groaning.

Feeling bad for his friend, Ned says "Want me to help you out? I got some money from my birthday left."

Shaking his head, Peter is grateful but doesn't want to have to take Ned's money. "Thanks though. But I'll manage." he reassures Ned and gets the scarce amount he can get with his last money. Heading over to a table with Ned, his stomach growls even louder.

Sitting down, Ned turns to him. "So, tell me what's going on? Who's the guest you mentioned? What I miss? Cos you're not like.. skipping breakfast since you moved, or been this super tense." he asks, eager to know what's bugging his friend.

"I'm not sure how much I can tell you, Ned. But thing's been bad since yesterday. Everyone's like super on edge and annoyed. And it was a _super_ bad day, I made stupid mistakes and paid for it.. badly. We got this.. girl we're supposed to keep imprisoned now cos she's too powerful to put anywhere else. And we got.. " Peter explains as his spider sense tingles a moment to late to stop it as a football lands directly into his tray of food, sending food flying everywhere and the tray landing on the floor. Covered in food and now having lost what little he had, Peter looks at the football.

"Hey _Penis_! Learn to catch!" Flash calls over, laughing from his table with his group of friends.

Fuming, Peter jumps to his feet as wiping the food off him best he can.

Getting up as well, Ned tries to help Peter and calm him down but Peter is having none of it.

"Ned _**stop**_! I can do it myself!" Peter snaps, teethering on the edge of losing it.

Taking this as him needing to take the edge off instead of yelling at him for no reason, Ned stands back.

"It's an improvement, Parker! Not that you could look any worse though, with a face and wardrobe like that." Flash jabs at him, amused at getting a rise out of Peter now.

"I need air. And a clean." Peter says through gritted teeth and heads back to the bathroom, leaving Ned behind to try and eat his lunch and clean some of the mess up while glaring at Flash.

* * *

"Aww.. poor Penis." Flash pipes up in the bathroom, having followed Peter with three of his cronies in tow and is blocking the exit.

"Fuck off, _Flash._" Peter grumbles, having a hard time keeping his anger in check.

"Ooh, does your precious aunt let you talk like that? I bet not, maybe we should tell her. Make a date out of it or something, there's .. _plenty _I'd do to her. M-mmm." Flash taunts and drives Peter flying off the handle.

Shoving Flash hard into one of the toilet stalls Peter catches him off guard and into a rage of his own. Startled at the strength he used, Peter quickly backs down some. He can't make anyone suspicious of how much strength and athletic skills he has.

But the shove and crash into the stall was enough for Flash to be enraged and he shouts at his cronies to get Peter, as lunging at the teen himself as well.

Unable to take on all four without revealing his strength Peter has little choice but to minimize his retaliation and defense, and to take it best he can. He can seriously injure them but knows it will look like he done the most damage and risk serious consequences. It being extremely hard not to beat them off him, Peter receives a fierce beating for 'daring' to shove Flash.

Bursting into the bathroom at the noise, two teachers break up the fight and end up blaming all five boys, dragging them to the principle.

* * *

Having lunch at the Avenger's Facility, Tony is seated at the dining table shoving a big sandwich in his mouth as listening to Clint and Sam bicker playfully.

Snickering amused, Rhodey shakes his head, seated to Tony's left as eating some home made soup. " This is good!" he states cheerfully as looking over to Steve who's at the stove.

Currently monitoring the child, Vision and Bruce don't have the privilege to join the rest at this time.

Walking into the kitchen sweaty, Wanda, Pietro, Natasha and Scott just finished at training session and are starved. The smell of bread and soup welcomes them and it lights up their faces instantly.

"Oh wow.." Scott says, hurrying to the table more than eager to dig in.

Chuckling, Steve pipes up "Please, sit. There's planty of food for everyone and more bread on the way. I'll be right back." Having prepared two plates and some drinks for Thor and Loki, Steve proceeds to carry the tray to their room.

Watching him leave, Wanda sits down and grabs some food, fixing herself a plate as looking at the rest. "When will Thor and Loki join us for meals again?" she asks hopeful it's not too long, as she's curious about the two and decided she'll give Loki at least a chance.

"Hopefully never. Well, Loki anyway." Clint says in an even tone, taking another bite of his food.

Stacking his plate full, Pietro eyes Clint and shakes his head. "Why? Toy're not gonna give him a chance at all?" he asks and gets a displeased look in return.

"I'm not going over this again, kid. How did the training go?" Clint asks instead, fed up with either Pietro or Wanda asking about Loki and Thor since the pair arrived.

"Good. They were.. _eager_." Natasha answers as fixing her own plate and grins at the twins.

"Yep, almost couldn't keep up with them." Scott agrees with a smile and wipes his sweaty forehead with his sleeve.

"Good work." Clint tells them, happy with this news.

Feeling his phone vibrate, Tony fishes it out of his pocket and frowns seeing the number.

Picking up on his look turning into concerned surprise, the rest falls silent as looking at the billionaire.

Picking up quickly Tony speaks up "Stark." Listening for a moment a one sided dialogue ensues for the rest of the table. "He what? Are you sure? It doesn't sound like him at all. Not at all.. You.. No, of course not. So what is being done? You're kidding me.. Can't.. no can't we- .. Yes,l understand that. Zero tolerance policy, yes I get that. It just seems unlike him. So, where is he now? ..._What?!_" Pausing then to pinch the bridge of his nose, Tony struggles to keep his anger in check. "No, I'm still here. Of course. I'll get right on it. Thanks for your call." he continues and hangs up. Covering his face with his hands to take a moment to gather his thoughts, he stays silent.

"What's going on? Something with Peter?" Rhodey asks, having understood it most likely was Peter's school.

"Yeah. That was his principle. Apparently he was caught fighting with four others in the bathroom. All five of them have been suspended for a week, since they have a zero tolerance policy about this kinda thing." Tony explains which surprises the rest as much as it did him.

"Fighting? Spidey?"Sam comments, not making sense of it at all.

"They have it wrong, Peter wouldn't do that. He wouldn't risk it!" Wanda points out, unwilling to belive Peter would do such a thing.

"Are you picking him up?" Rhodey asks, wanting to get to the bottom of what exactly happened before expressing his opinion on the matter.

"When I locate him I will. He refused to wait there for me and ran." Tony mutters as getting up.

"Not again..." Clint says groaning, displeased at the fact Peter did this _right _after yesterday's escapades

Giving Wanda a troubled look, Pietro is more than concerned as it's completely out of character for Peter. Considering him a younger brother, both twins are eager to find out what's going on with him.

"I'm taking the suit. Back soon." Tony tells them and heads out.

* * *

"Sir, Ned Leeds is calling, shall I put him through?" Friday asks as Tony is currently using the gps to locate Peter.

"Ned? Yes, put him through." Tony tells her and listens as Ned's voice comes through.

_"Uh, mister Stark? It's Ned, Peter's friend, sir."_

Rolling his eyes, Tony states "I know who you are, Ned. You've been over at the Tower and Facility and all that. You don't have to remind me every time we talk."

_"Oh yeah, right right! Sorry!" _Ned quickly says then falls silent.

"Ned, what's going on?" Tony asks to encourage him to speak up.

_"Right.. um.. I'm guessing you've been called by his school.. About Peter?"_ Ned asks carefully, just in case he's not clued in yet.

"Yes." Tony simply answers him and waits for the kid to continue.

_"I .. sir..I'm.."_ Ned stutters

This is frustrating Tony at first for maybe calling to plead for Peter, but Ned doesn't call usually. and his tone seems off to him. "Spill it, Ned. Something's clearly bothering you. Do you know more about this thing with Peter?" Tony asks, glancing at the tracker and seeing he's close to Peter's location already.

_"Yeah. He'll be pissed at me for this but.. I __**need**__ to tell you this. Cos Peter shouldn't be dealing with this alone anymore. I mean, well.. I've been trying to help in my way. But today things went to hell and now all this happened and.. Mister Stark.. I think Peter really needs you." _ Ned tells him, which tripples Tony's worry instantly.

"Tell me all you know. _Now!_" Tony snaps at him, his concern getting the better of him. Hearing Ned gasp startled at his snap, Tony sighs before adding "Please."

_"Yeah.. Peter's.. he's being bullied by someone. For ages now. The guy took it a step further today, wouldn't leave Peter alone and.. Peter was so hungry and picked on and then at lunch again and didn't have enough money but bought some with the little he did have and then Flash- I mean the guy.. He threw a football and it went all over Peter and picked on him more.. and.. He tripped him earlier too and he was bleeding.. and Peter was so tense.. I-I think he snapped. But I don't believe he would fight them.. He has never retaliated, no matter what F- the guy did to him. He refused to lay hands on him.. cos of his secret and his strength, said that it wasn't what he does." _Ned rambles on mostly in one go, making it hard for Tony to follow.

Horrified at this all, Tony pauses his flight mid-air as his mind slowly catches up to the words he heard.

_"Uh.. Mister Stark? You still there? You gone silent." _Ned hesitantly asks in response.

"I'm here. It's just.. a lot. Why didn't he tell me any of this?" Tony asks incredulous Peter kept him in the dark like this, as well as him having no clue whatsoever this was happening. He didn't pick up on any signs at all.

_"I told him a million times to tell you. He refused, said that it was his problem to deal with, not yours."_ Ned explains, saddened about the whole thing.

Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, Tony tries to process it and says "Thank you Ned, you're a good friend to him." Hanging up then, Tony descends and heads over to where Peter is sitting on the edge of a roof, staring down at the streets below with a vacant stare.

His face obscured by the hood of his hoodie which, like his shoes and jeans are stained with what should have been his lunch, his hands firmly in his pockets and his posture screaming out feeling lost.

Landing behind him, a few foot away, Tony observes the kid a moment.

Slightly moving his head towards Tony, Peter shows he knows he's there.

Stepping out of the suit, Tony goes over to him and sits down next to him.

Further lowering his head to keep his face hidden, Peter isn't sure what to say to him. As far as he knows, Tony is still in the dark about Flash and only knows he's been caught fighting and is being expelled, then ran, since he's aware of the school having called Tony.

Staring at Peter's posture, Tony is realizing he's attempting to hide from him. He slouches often but at this moment he's almost curling up to a ball. "Who's Flash?" Tony decides to ask to start the conversation and watches Peter go rigid in shock.

Clearly he didn't expect Tony to ask this. not wanting to answer this, mainly to keep the bullying a secret still as well as not wanting to give away just how upset he is at the moment. Were he to speak up, his voice would certainly give it away.

"Peter.. Ned called me." Tony decides to inform him, helping him out of the dream he can keep this secret any longer than he already has. Hearing Peter sigh softly, Tony continues "He's a good friend. But I wish _you_ were the one that told me."

"It's.. my problem.. not yours." Peter finally speaks up, wincing at his own voice as it's hoirse, cracking and sounding rather pitiful.

"Bullshit Peter. You know you can come to me about anything. _Anything._ You don't keep something like this from me. You've been struggling, and I get that you've been trying to deal with your problems yourself. I do get that. But you should have told me. It didn't have to go this far!" Tony scolds him firmly, frustrated with the knowledge Peter been dealing with this alone.

"But I- " Peter tries to defend his actions but Tony is having none of it.

"But _nothing!_ How long. How long has this been going on?" Tony demands.

Remaining silent, Peter is still attempting to ignore the fact keeping Tony in the dark clearly no longer is an option.

Pushing Peter to turn to him by the shoulders, Tony grips his jaw to look him in the eyes to confront him but freezes at the sight. Pulling the hood off him, he stares in horror at the state of _his_ kid slackjawed. The bruises, swelling and dried up blood horrifies Tony, but it's the tracks of tears that sends him over the edge.

Actually wellling up, Tony clenches his jaw and swallows hard to force the lump in his throat back down while gently placing his hands on either side of Peter's face. "Peter.. why.. Why not tell me, I could have protected you. Goddamn it kid, I'm your _dad_. You're my kid, it's my job and privilege to help you. Even if you wanted to do it yourself, I could have offered advice or some assistence. Gods.. look at the state you're in Underoos.." he tells him heartbroken and it's enough to cause Peter to break down completely. Pulling him into a hug quickly, Tony freezes again when Peter lets out a cry in pain. Letting go of him, Tony looks him over alarmed by this.

Grabbing his ribs and stomach, Peter tries to stop crying as the sobs hurt him badly.

Pulling his arm out of the way, Tony lifts Peter's hoodie and shirt, much to Peter's dismay, and spots several large bruises around his ribs and side. Fuming at the state he's put in, Tony at the same time is alarmed at how mere teens have managed to wound him so badly. As Peter can take getting a whole building collapsing on top of him. He should _not _have been this badly hurt.

Getting up, Tony steps back into his suit before saying "Friday, scan Peter's vital signs and full body status."

Looking up at Tony shaking his head quickly, Peter is not happy about this and gets to his feet.

Complying, Friday is quick to run the scans and pipes up "Multiple severe bruises detected, skeletal structure intact, facial injuries detected, no internal damage. BMI insufficient, energy levels insufficient, disruption detected in bloodstream, further data required to determine origin."

Paling at this news, Tony grabs Peter and straps him into the suit's harness before taking off straight home to get him to med-bay.

* * *

_There you go people! Chapter 10 already. Thank you for all the views and favorites! It truly inspires me and makes my day. Hope you all will have an awesome day and the next chapter should come along soon enough!_


	11. Thunder and Spiders

**Warning:** chapter contains violence.

* * *

In the meantime at AF Friday is still monitoring the girl, as are Sam and Natasha when Friday alerts loudly throughout the building

"Subject is concious. Running vital scans."

Getting up instantly, Sam and Natasha make way to the cube room and punch in the door code. Heading inside they see that the girl is moving a little, groaning and not fully awake yet.

"Vital signs unstable, elevated body temperature, severe malnutrition, dehydration, internal damage, head injury, muscle damage, throat and lung damage and neck injury detected. Medical care recommended." Friday informs them throughout the building.

This prompts the rest to hurry over faster immediately.

Joining Sam and Natasha, Bruce is the first to arrive and is more than alarmed at what Friday listed off.

"She needs help.." Sam whispers to Bruce, who nods instantly and is already thinking on how to approach her by the looks of it.

Running in next, Steve stops next to Bruce and looks from the the girl to the trio and back. "So we were spot on with her being skinny. Why didn't Friday alert of us this before? I thought scans were being done constantly." he asks confused how this is possible.

"Captain Rogers, I was instructed to do a vitals scan the moment the subject woke up. As well as inform all relevent occupants. I have not been instructed to do this before that time. Does this satisfy your inquiry?" Friday herself explains.

Looking up, Steve is still surprised at her intelligence and initiative and nods a little awkwardly "Uh yea, thanks Friday." he tells her quietly, not agreeing with that decision. She could have easily gotten worse in the meantime.

"We can't treat her without risking her attacking us." Bruce states and turns around when hearing footsteps.

Having send the twins to the monitor room nearby, Clint and Rhodey head into the cube room with Thor and Loki not far behind.

"Then what do we do?" Clint asks, having overheard them and looks at the girl in concern but also despise for what she's done. He does know if they do nothing, she will gets worse.

"Med bay?" Rhodey suggests, knowing it will be a risk but sees no other better option.

"Rather not, unless we have literally no other options. It's too risky." Bruce tells him and sighs. "I wish I had known of her state before she woke up. I could have injected her with the most needed fluids and nutritions. I doubt an IV will be an option, she'll just rip it out and wont hold still for us to actually put it in her. But hydration and nutrition is a priority right now. We need to come up with something." he continues.

"We should take this conversation elsewhere." Natasha points out as eyeing the girl, guessing that if they openly discuss their plans in her presence they will shoot themselves in the foot as she can simply antcipate their next move that way.

Agreeing with her, they decide to move to just outside the cube room and speak in quiet tones when Vision makes an appearance, having been finishing off delicate work in Bruce's lab.

"Have you considered the 'olive branch' method?" Vision asks them, making them turn to him curiously. "Food and liquid is what her body needs the most. And as an organism it is the basic urge to feed and drink to nourish her body, which you can use to your advantage. It would both serve as countering her poor state as well as earn trust if you succeed. And perhaps it could coax her into speaking to us as well. So why not offer her water and food in exchange for intell and some trust?" he explains to them matter of factly.

"Who will volunteer?" Sam asks, figuring it will have to be Vision or Thor, as Loki is not an option and the rest of them are susceptable to an attack, despite her being bound by the collar, as they found out the hard way.

"Vision?" Bruce suggests, hoping he will be the one as the girl can't bite him like she can Thor.

"While I understand your logic behind your choice, I am not well versed in social conduct as of yet. I am still in the midst of learning, so I would not be the best option to coax her into talking." Vision explains and turns to look at Thor.

"I will. If you agree to not let Loki out of your sights. I cannot fail in my duties regarding him." Thor tells them and eyes Loki.

Glaring at Thor for basically being handed to the Avengers like an object, or being 'babysat' by them, Loki is anything but pleased with this. Holding his tongue for now, he does make his pleasure more than clear with a look that could kill Thor on the spot.

* * *

Handing Thor a tray with a plate of water rich fruit, red meat and bread. As well as a plastic bottle of water Steve and Bruce have taken the liberty of putting together, Bruce gives him a hopeful look.

"We will be nearby in the monitor room." Steve tells him then, feeling on edge about the prospect and hoping it will go down well.

"I will do my best, friends." Thor reassures them and eyes Loki. Not feeling the need to basically tell him to 'be good', he leaves it at a look before he heads into the cube room.

Staying inside the room just in case of trouble, Vision nods to the blonde god and closes the doors of the cube room behind them should she make a break for it.

Noting that the girl has moved to her seemingly favored corner of the cube, hugging her knees to her chest and having curled up best she can, Thor braces himself. "Open the door." he says to the ceiling, expecting Friday to comply and is proven right. Heading inside he fully expects the girl to make a dash for the door but she makes no move whatsoever. Frowning at the lack of movement, Thor heads further in and waits as the cube door closes. A bit at a loss how to approach her as not exactly used to dealing with children much, he stands simply watching her for a bit. Seeing her tense up when he tries to comes closer, he pauses a moment before carefully moving to the center of the cube and sits down there in the hopes he seems less intimidating at that height.

Watching in the monitor room the rest obeserve her closely, almost holding their breath in anticipation of her response.

Having noticed her tensing up and keeping herself curled up as eyeing Thor, Clint states "She's faking it." Not believing she is genuinely in distress he scoffs at the sight.

"Not so sure." Natasha however says, doing her best to make sense of the girl. It is clear enough that she has been trained, specifically to be a living weapon, but she is too young still to fully have a hold on her emotions. Hence her shifting from anger and coldness to fear and distress in Natasha's eyes. Had she been trained in the Red Room like Natasha, she'd have at least another 6 years of training to go. As well as a lot of maturing.

Placing the tray down on the floor of the cube, Thor slides it towards the girl and observes.

Hugging her legs tighter to her chest, she shows no interest into going for the food at all.

Scratching his head a little, Thor wonders how to get her to cooperate with them succesfully. Scooting closer, while making sure to still expect an attack, he moves to sit with his back against one of the walls nearest to her.

Pushing herself into the corner more, she makes sure to keep an ever watchful eye on Thor and what he's doing.

Pushing the tray more towards her Thor waits to see if she will go for it now. Seeing her eyes go to the tray, barely visible through her hair, and then back to him he speaks up. "That food is for you. You must be hungry and thirsty. It's good food, you should try it." Watching her, he then continues as pausing after each question "Are you familiar with Midgardian food? Where are you from, girl? How did you get here?"

Saying nothing, she makes clear she has no interest in talking to him.

"Okay let's try this. I am called Thor, son of Odin. What is it they call you?" Thor tries but still gets no response from her. Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair at a loss what else to try. Seeing her shift position, he tenses up a little and proceeds to watch her reach over to the plate of food. Excited at this, feeling like he is making progress with her after all, he looks over to Vision with a thrilled look.

Smiling back, Vision is pleased with this positive outcome as well until his smile drops seconds later when seeing what the girl _really_ is doing.

Hearing a crash, Thor perceives time as if it is going in slow motion as he saw Vision's smile drop and the crash follow. Looking over to the girl he sees she lunged at him and a sharp pain explodes in his stomach. Time speeds up as several sharp pains follow right after. His eyes lock onto hers as she peers up at him with hatred, making him widen his eyes as the moment overlaps with a memory he burried deep inside. The moment being when Loki stabbed Thor on the Stark tower all those years ago. The eyes, _her_ eyes, green.. they look familiar.. like he is experiencing a deja-vu.

Stabbing him repeatedly over a span of several seconds the girl gets a wild look in her eyes as baring her teeth menacingly at him.

As Vision is rushing over to help Thor, a blast of lightning appears as Thor himself fights her off him purely out of reflex and self-preservation. Holding his bleeding stomach with one hand, the other used to hold himself up he grunts and looks over as getting to his senses, seeing the aftermath of the encounter.

"No!" he yells out, seeing a crack in the glass wall, a trail of blood going down from where she collided with said wall then slid down into a heap on the floor below it. Blood is pooling rapidly under her head, he hand bleeding severely from where she used a shard of the plate she broke to stab Thor with. "Help!" he yells again as dragging himself over to the girl, checking her pulse.

At his side a second later, Vision assesses the damage and looks over as the rest of the team rushes into the cube room, opening the cube door.

Bruce joins them and calls out orders for medical aid and for Friday to run a new scan immediately.

Steve and Vision are quick to tend to Thor with Loki hovering nearby his brother, showing genuine concern for the state she's been put in by the child. Where as in the past he would have stabbed Thor himself.

* * *

"How is the child? I swear I did not intend to.. _Please_ tell me I did not.." Thor rambles as he sees Clint and Bruce appear in the room as he is seated on a bed in med-bay, having been bandaged up by one of the doctors there.

"She's stable.. sort of. We know you didn't mean to Thor, we don't blame you for what happened." Bruce reassures him as coming over and offers a sympathetic smile.

"How do you feel?" Clint asks, giving Thor a look over and eyes the bandages wrapped around his broad frame.

"Do not worry about me, I will heal soon enough. Please tell me about the child. And where is Loki?" Thor asks, not worried about his own injuries whatsoever. It is by far not the only time he has endured stab wounds in his life.

"Well.. Steve and Rhodey are right outside the room here with Loki. Vision, Natasha and Scott are currently with the child. Sam is with the twins at the moment. No word yet from Bruce and Peter. Now that you are eased about everyone else.. " Clint explains and gives Bruce a hesitant look.

Returning the look, Bruce turns to Thor next. "She's not waking up. Her head trauma is severe. But we still dont think med bay is safe enough to house her. We will need to take precautions before it can house her. We _did_ tend to her wounds best we can for the moment. She seems to have broken some bones in the collision as well. We can't do much right now, it's a big risk to place her in med-bay. Not a decision to take lightly." Bruce explains best he can.

Feeling horribly guilty, despite having little choice but to defend himself, and them not blaming him, Thor still lowers his head in shame.

"I care _not_ for your wishes." Loki's voice snaps outside the room and heads inside to go see Thor despite Rhodey and Steve insisting they give Thor some time. "I've seen him in worse states." Loki mutters as walking towards Thor, Rhodey and Steve heading after him.

"Yeah, I'm sure you've _put_ him into worse states yourself." Rhodey mutters at him less than pleased with the man. The whole situation irritates Rhodey to no end and Loki's unwillingness to cooperate doesn't help whatsoever.

Pausing mid-stride to look at Rhodey over his shoulder, Loki doesn't appreciate him pointing this out, though he can't really blame him either. "I have in the _past_, I won't deny that. What do you gain from pointing it out? Does it make you all _warm and fuzzy_ inside?" Loki asks him in a venomous tone and eyes Rhodey as he doesn't reply to this, before he heads to Thor's side.

"Brother, be civil." Thor attempts, though his tone lacks his usual volume and authority.

Ignoring his comment, Loki looks him over. "So, hand feeding it is no longer an option, clearly." he determines, not having expected this outcome really but he didn't expect her to cooperate either.

"Clearly not." Steve agrees and eyes Clint and Bruce.

"What else can we try? Injecting her now she's out cold again?" Clint suggests, guessing that she at least won't be able to attack them at this time.

"Planning to. It should at least take care of the immediate threat of dehydration and starvation. And whatever else we can boost her with. Though.. not knowing what she is specifically could make things worse.." Bruce points out, feeling at a loss with how to help her much.

"_**Bruce!**_" Tony's voice yells down the med-bay halls moments later as several doctors and nurses seem to rush by the doorway.

Turning around, Bruce frowns and heads over to check what's going on.

Following, Steve, Rhodey and Clint watch Tony down the hall as he steps out of the suit and supports Peter as Bruce runs over.

"The boy.. what happened?" Thor asks as coming to stand behind the rest, having come to see what's happening and looking on in concern.

Apparently disinterested, Loki has come to stand leaning against the wall next to Thor, raising an eyebrow at Peter's state. Masking his concern with a stoic stare he watches on as Peter is rushes into a nearby room.

* * *

"What the hell happened!" Bruce demands as they get Peter onto one of the medical beds, seated up somewhat and propped up by pillows, making sure he's as comfy as can be in the current situation.

Gesturing to Peter, Tony is quick to mutter "Teenagers did this to him."

In the midst of helping a nurse and doctor with looking Peter over, Bruce pauses and looks at Tony confused.

"Teens? Enhanced teens?" Rhodey is asking as heading into the room, well aware of how much Peter can endure, normal humans can't hurt him badly like this with ease.

"_Normal_ teens." Tony simply states and stands back to give the doctors some room.

"What? How?" Steve is asking now as coming to stand to the side watching, just as confused at how this is possible.

Attempting to get Peter's hoodie off him, the nurse however learns he is having nothing of it and gets pushed aside gently but determined by him.

"Peter, stop. Let them treat you." Tony instructs him but is promptly ignored by the teen.

Not wanting to be the center of attention as well as not wanting them to see just how bad of a state he is truly in, Peter continues to protest.

"Peter! Stop it." Tony warns more firmly and takes the liberty of simply pulling the hoodie off him, followed by his shirt.

Yelping in pain at the rough treatment and being forced out of his clothes in company, Peter actually startles Tony.

"Shit.." Clint winces at the response and the sight of Peter's body, seeing he's literally covered in bruises on his chest, arms and stomach.

"Sorry bud, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to help hurry it up so they can assess the damage." Tony apologizes and gently pushes Peter down to rest against the pillows and focus on him as the nurse proceeds to take some blood, followed by the doctor examining him. "No, look at me. Hey! Kid, this isn't supposed to be happening.. Mere brats shouldn't be able to do this to you.. put you in this much pain.." Tony tells him, seeing panic start to form on Peter's face.

"I will give him something for the pain." the doctor tells him in response and prepares a syringe, handing this to the nurse as taking the blood samples from her. "I will have these analyzed asap." the doctor then says and starts taking notes of all the damage that's visible.

Injecting Peter with a light sedative and strong painkillers, the nurse then turns to him. "Try and relax now. Don't get so worked up, okay?" she tells him and offers him a smile before heading out.

"Friday indicated that there is a disruption in his bloodstream, it has to be the cause of his reduced endurance. And whatever else is going on." Tony informs them as helping Peter out of his shoes and socks, going for his pants next.

"Tony no!" Peter loudly protests, shooting up to a seated position and wincing in pain from it, wrapping his arms around his chest and sides.

Pushing Peter down by his shoulders gently, Steve looks at Tony and gives a nod guessing out of all of them Tony's best choice to go ahead and do it as he's closest to Peter before turning back to him. "Keep still buddy, it needs to be done. He'll be quick." he tells him in a gentle tone feeling horrible seeing him in such a state.

Getting his pants off him Tony nods in agreement saying "All done. They need to be able to run proper tests Spidey, plus you need clean clothes." Holding up the pants covered in what appears to be mashed potatoes to further make his point he offers Peter a smile.

"We need to get to the bottom of this quickly." Bruce states, going over the notes the doctors wrote down before turning to the doctor next to him and engaging her into conversation about the notes. Leaving with her, he aims to take a look at the blood samples for himself as well.

* * *

Watching them leave, Tony then turns back to Peter. Looking him over he sighs deep and runs a hand over his face as trying to gather his thoughts.

Taking the liberty of pulling the covers of the bed over him, Steve gives Peter a reassuring smile as noting his relieved look at not being half naked on the bed in front of them anymore.

"It'll be okay kid." Rhodey offers as having noticed the panicked look on Peter's face and places a hand on his shoulder before turning to Tony. "How could this .. 'disruption' get in his bloodstream? And since when?" he asks the man, going over any and all ideas on possible causes and whether he has noticed anything off about Peter lately.

Shaking his head as he has no answers yet either, Tony eyes Peter before asking in a serious tone "Have you been feeling feint? Low energy? Noticed anything strange lately? Noticed anything about your powers maybe?"

"Not.. not really. Well today I did but not before that.. about my powers I mean." Peter confesses and hopes Tony magically forgot what Friday gave as further results of the scan earlier. Maybe the chaos of the situation will make it slip his mind?

"Do your powers fail you now too?" Tony asks worried of the possibility of Peter losing them.

Nodding slowly, Peter then looks away, fearing the same thing.

Crossing his arms as regarding the teen, Tony says "Those results Friday gave as result of your vitals scan were... interesting, don't you think.."

Tensing up, Peter tries his best to avoid Tony's eyes who are currently boring into him.

"What results?" Steve is quick to ask, concerned by the tone and stance Tony is using.

"She said his energy levels are insufficient and that he's underweight." Tony answers, not taking his eyes off Peter.

"Well, skipping one meal.. since I've been told you haven't eaten much at breakfast.. that alone isn't enough cause to warrent you being underweight." Steve points out, his concern growing drastically.

"I'm not underweight. Friday has it wrong. I'm just skinny, build like that. It's normal." Peter defends himself though mentally facepalms as hearing his own words back to him and isn't even convincing himself.

"_Right.._ And since your enhancement it's not like you gained a lot more muscle and should have gotten bigger, not skinnier.. _Oh wait.._" Clint says in a sarcastic manner, eyeing Peter skeptically.

"How is this possible? Have you not been eating properly at mealtimes?" Thor now asks, having listened from the doorway with Loki up until now.

Looking over to the god, both Peter and Tony widen their eyes at the sight of the bandages.

"What the hell happened to you? What I miss?" Tony asks, alarmed at the state Thor is in and looks at them for answers.

"The child.. she did not receive my offer of food and drink well." Thor explains, his shame creeping back up in his chest.

"She _hurt_ you?" Peter asks just as alarmed, continuously being shocked at what she is capable of. Taking on Thor is something he'd personally never wants to try out, lest he wants his ass handed to him.

"Didn't anyone stop her? How could this happen!" Tony asks confused how it wasn't prevented.

"Vision was outside of the cube, he did get to me in mere seconds but she by then had already stabbed me." Thor explains and walks closer.

Taking a better look at his chest, Peter asks "How did she manage to stab you? With what? How?"

Feeling somewhat negligent about not foreseeing the possibility, Steve, Thor and Clint all sport a sheepish look while Rhodey just grumbles softly.

"A plate. We made sure not to give her any cutlery like knives and forks or a glass. But we didn't think about the plate itself being a weapon as well." Steve explains and feels stupid for not realizing this at the time.

"Where is she now? What is being done?" Tony asks quickly, ticked off at the fact that she managed to injure yet another one of the family.

"In the cube with Nat, Scott and Vision, as the damage is being repaired." Rhodey explains and winces at Thor's guilty look coming back full force.

"They are in there _with her_?!" Tony asks stunned why they would allow this.

"She is.. incapacitated." Thor points out, averting his eyes.

"C'mon now Thor, it's not like you did it deliberately. You had to defend yourself. She pretty much.. eh.. had it coming." Clint tells him in an attempt to make him feel better but fails to sound convincing whatsoever.

Scoffing at this attempt, Loki rolls his eyes and stays in the doorway to keep at a distance from them all. Though still felt the need to indicate he is indeed still present.

"You could have tried to sound more believable, Barton." Rhodey tells him with a headshake as it didn't help the situation.

"Loki is the silvertongued liar, you clearly aren't." Tony points out and glares over at said liar, not wanting him anywhere near here. Especially now with Peter in a weakened state.

"Do not attempt to alleviate my guilt by telling lies, Barton. I defended myself yes, but it caused her great harm. I could have ended her." Thor tells him and sighs. "This guilt is my own to bear." he adds.

Looking from Thor to the rest, Tony now figures that the girl is badly injured by the looks of it, which he partially is glad about since she done so much harm to them. But part of him also doesn't like this idea at all, though not sure to what level he actually cares about her state.

"She's broken bones, is out cold again and has a severe head injury" Steve explains, picking up on Tony's curiosity.

"Also, the results of her vital signs scan were rather alarming." Rhodey follows up with and gives Tony an unhappy look.

"Yeah about that, why didn't she get a vitals scan up until now? I thought she was getting thoroughly scanned all this time!" Steve demands instantly as Rhodey's words reminded him of this fact.

"I didn't deem it necessary. Figured to wait with it til we knew some more and she was awake." Tony explains with a shrug.

"Didn't deem it.. _What?_" Steve splutters, unable to form coherent words, pacing a little to get rid of excess anger over this. Turning back then he demands "How can you possibly justify that!"

"That's careless Tones. We could have done something about her state already had we known." Rhodey steps in and holds up a placating hand towards Steve in a silent gesture for him to calm himself down.

"I get the.. scanning her more thoroughly once she was awake thing. But it was really alarming Tony. She's in a _bad_ state. Enemy or not, we're still responsible for her. She should have been monitored even closer, despite her violence and bloodlust. Why didn't you instruct Friday to sooner?" Clint asks, scratching his head.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I guess I can't see her like you all seem to see her as this little kid we're supposed to protect and take care of or something. I only see a monster that killed many agents and took us on first chance she got. Hell she _bit_ several people! I only see a bloodthirsty murderer." Tony confesses, deciding to be completely open and honest about his feelings on the matter, not something that comes easy to him.

"We don't think of her as innocent or something, Tony." Steve points out, frustrated with how careless the man has been apparently. "But this was the wrong thing to do." he adds to that, giving him a disapproving glare.

"Is her state really that bad?" Tony now asks, regretting his choice to wait with the scan somewhat.

"Friday, could you repeat the results of the vitals scan when the girl woke up please." Rhodey asks in repsonse and waits as Tony and Peter listen to her words.

Sitting down on the edge of Peter's bed, Tony mutters as now understanding why they are this unhappy with his decision to wait "Well, shit. Now I also get why you insisted on getting her food."

"Bruce said he will get her some fluid and nutrition injections as an IV would be a bad idea to try. It should help her at least somewhat with the hydration and malnutrition. Though he pointed out that we still don't know what she is exactly so it might not work, or it can backfire." Clint explains with a sigh.

"Well, how do we find out what she is then? Talk to her?" Peter pipes up, glad he no longer is the topic of discussion. Even though he feels alarmed at the news about the girl's state and seeing Tony's response to it.

"Well **_we _**won't. You and the twins are still to stay away from her. You seen what she did to us, hell you seen what she did to Thor and Loki. I'll be damned if I let any of you teens near that animal." Tony firmly reminds Peter and pauses before turning fully to him and continues "And now we're on the topic of you.. How is it that you are underweight? You eat whole plates full at home here. One breakfast doesn't result in that. Dinners and breakfast are covered here and May makes sure you eat when you are over at her house. Especially now she is aware of your enhancement."

Nodding, Peter confirms this. "Yea she does." he tells him but refrains from explaining himself further.

Aware of him avoiding answering the question, Tony hums in response and says "That leaves lunch. Which you can get at school on your own right?"

"Uh yea. I can." Peter tells him nodding, as this is technically the truth. He can indeed get lunches there. He just doesn't, or has it be taken or be a bare minimum amount.

"Why do I get the feeling you are hiding something, Peter." Steve ponders out loud, giving Peter a rather suspicious look.

"Because he _is_." Tony simply states and turns to look at Loki before making a shoo-ing motion saying "Can't you.. go be moody and evil somewhere else? This conversation is not for you."

Eyeing Tony unimpressed, Loki looks over to Thor to see what he thinks as it will mean he too will have to leave the room.

Ending up looking between Tony and Loki, Thor lets out a sigh. "We will return to our quarters then, please inform us of any changes with the child. And.. if we can assist with Peter in any way.." he tells them and makes way over to the door.

"No wait! Don't make them leave! That's rude Tony, mister Loki has done nothing wrong at all so far since he arrived right?" Peter is quick to say, sitting up abruptly and wincing in pain from the movement.

"I don't _want_ him here! Or anywhere near you!" Tony argues, getting agitated at Peter's unwillingness to listen to him about this matter.

"Tony, Thor is right here.. so are we. Peter won't be harmed." Steve tries to mediate, having decided for himself to give Loki a chance, as having made up his mind after his talk with them earlier that morning.

"You have my word, your son will not be harmed by neither myself nor Loki. Right, brother?" Thor states and looks over to Loki expectantly.

Nodding, Loki looks at Peter then Tony. "Right. There is no honor in harming a child. I do not lower to such levels, never have." Loki then points out but is met with skeptical looks from Tony, Clint and Rhodey.

"I doubt _any_ level is too low for you.." Clint mutters to him, very much hating the man for what he put him through as well as the rest of Midgard and the blood that's on his hands.

Rolling his eyes at this, Loki has no interest in arguing it nor defending himself at this time. Not even in getting them on his side as this to him is a lost cause, despite him having succeeded in redeeming himself in other realms. He doesn't expect to ever be on neutral terms with the Avengers, let alone allies with them. But instead of arguing the matter, he decides to be the bigger man and turns to Tony himself. "I will not harm him. Even if it holds no value to you, you have my word on that." he tells him and leaves it at that.

Regarding Loki in silence, Tony contemplates demanding he and Thor leave but gives it a reluctant chance. Though he looks down at Peter feeling the need to try and persuade him to change his mind as a last ditch efffort. "You do realize that I will be addressing _everything _Ned told me of right? All of it. With them here. Everything."

Thinking on this, Peter looks at Tony then the rest and finally his lap. "I'm guessing you won't be dropping it right?" he asks then, somewhat forlorn.

"Right. Not a chance." Tony confirms this for him with a curt nod and waits for Peter's decision on it.

"Well.. They'll find out eventually anyway I guess. Might as well hear it now. Even if I _really_ don't want to talk about it" Peter tells him, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Fine. Stay then." Tony tells Loki, his displeasure clear in his tone.

"Okay, so back on topic. What are you hiding? You aren't telling us something, clearly" Steve starts to get things moving along and looks at Peter expectantly while turned to him fully and crossing his arms.

Looking down at Peter in practically the same stance Tony waits a moment to see if he's willing to start talking but is disappointed as he stays silent. "I'm not surprised. It took his friend Ned calling me to actually be notified of what's been going on. So yes, let's get back on topic. As I was starting to ask earlier when finding you on that rooftop.. How long has this been going on? And if you don't start talking, I will. Don't we deserve to hear it from you?" Tony informs Peter and watches him look up at him slowly, apparently trying to see if he means it. "I'm _serious, _Pete." he tells him, seeing the wary look and taking it for what it is.

"Yeah. You do deserve that.. But I still say it's my-" Peter starts to argue.

Cutting him off Tony shakes his finger saying "_No_. Not that again. You are on _seriously _thin ice with that bullshit reason to keep me.. to keep _us_ in the dark about this!" Tony snaps at him in sheer frustration.

Lost at what they apparently missed, the rest looks at the pair as trying to make sense of it.

"Tony, language. _Seriously_ .. between Clint and the twins.. and already having let it slide several times today.. I'm getting a headache from your choice of words of all of you. Don't you slip back too, those three are enough to have to keep warning." Steve tells him, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Yeah yeah.. " Tony tells him in a dismissive manner, waving a hand at Steve as starting to lose his patience with Peter.

Watching Peter actually fidget and looking down at his lap in silence, Rhodey guesses that the topic probably something Peter has a hard time with opening up about. "Spidey, is it hard for you to tell us?" he asks him calmly, getting the feeling he wants to get it off his chest but is finding it too hard to take the step to actually start talking.

Nodding at this, Peter actually wells up, surprising himself with how much it has been bothering him. Used to just bury or ignore it and moving on without thinking on it too much, now being contronted with it proves to much for him to handle with a brave front.

Realizing it's far harder on the kid than he though, Tony eases up and places a gently hand on Peter's shoulder, softly squeezing it as asking "Do you want me to clue them in? We can go from there, okay?"

Swallowing hard, Peter shakes his head. "No, you're right. You deserve to hear it from me." he tells them and wipes at his eyes, steeling himself by taking a few deep breaths.

* * *

"This guy in my classs.. been picking on me. I don't know why. But he jumps on any chance to get at me. Even has this.. _stupid.._nickname for me. Has the rest of the class in stitches when mocking me. In class, outside class, everywhere.. Even outside school." Peter starts, finding it incredibly hard not to break down.

"'Picking on'? I doubt it's that innocent." Tony states in a skeptical tone.

"You're being bullied?" Steve asks incredulous, looking at Tony alarmed then, wondering the same thing Tony does: how have they missed this?

"How long?" Tony demands, deciding to finally get an answer to this question this time.

"Before you found me.." Peter answers in a rather meek tone.

Spluttering incredulous and completely taken aback by this answer, Tony is at a loss of words.

"Kid, that's over a year ago.."Clint points out to which Peter nods slowly in confirmation.

"And you kept this from us _why _exactly?" Steve is next to demand. He may not be his dad but he cares deeply for each member of the family and is fiercely protective over the youngest members. And this news hits him hard, especially given his deep dislike of bullying of any sort.

"Bacause it's _my _problem, not yours." Peter tells him, making Tony tense up even more.

"Now you know why I said it's _bullshit_." Tony is quick to tell Steve in a snippy tone who nods in understanding.

"What is this 'bullying' exactly?" Thor asks curious to make more sense of why they are so worked up over it.

Leaning closer to him, Loki speaks up. "Honestly Thor, read up on Midgardian language. Your knowledge of it is dismal. Bullying: .. oppressing, mocking, intimidating, domineering, attempting to make the victim feel inferior, doubt themself, teasing, taunting, name-calling, threatening, spreading rumors and false stories, humiliating.. If it is in a physical form it involves hitting, kicking, shoving, breaking the victim's belongings.. and so on."

Gaping at Loki Thor now understands far more than he wished to and turns to Peter. "Who is this person that does this to you!" he demands, seemingly angry on Peter's behalf.

"Some guy." Peter tells him, looking at Thor in surprise.

"Tell me his name! We will bring honor back to you on your behalf!" Thor demands next.

"Thor, here on Earth we _don't _beat up teens.." Clint reminds Thor, trying to calm him down quickly before things escalade Asgardian style.

"What does he bully you with? Please tell us everything. And Tony is absolutely right, it not being our problem is _not_ true. You see Thor's reaction don't you? Do you understand why he responds like that?" Steve asks Peter calmly as gesturing to Thor.

"I think so. Actually.. not really." Peter confesses hesitantly.

"You do not understand my anger towards this person that is 'bullying' you?" Thor asks Peter puzzled and raises his eyebrows when Peter shakes his head at his question. "You are part of the Avengers, are you not? A part of the family. I am too, Peter Parker, that makes you family to me too. More so than this, would you not feel anger if it was not you but another of the family being treated in this manner?" he asks in genuine surprise Peter doesn't seem to grasp this.

"Well yes, I'd be livid. And I'd want to help and.." Peter replies and cathes on now. "Oh.. You.. you really care like that?" he asks the god, surprised by this as they only just officially met yesterday.

"Yes, of course!" Thor tells him instantly, wanting to make it clear he cares a great deal.

"Now you know why we are in this state, Peter. You don't deserve to be treated like that, no one does. Bullying is _wrong_, in any form. And keeping us in the dark about it is too." Rhodey points out to Peter, his face stern though his voice remains calm. Yelling at the kid will not help him in any way.

"Okay so, answer my question. What all happened, tell us everything." Steve then tells Peter, getting comfy on the edge of the bed, ready to listen to him however long it will take.

Reluctant, Peter explains how Flash mocks him for his hair, clothes, his likes, his intelligence which he uses against him, his lack of a car, hitting on his aunt just to get under his skin, mocks him for his 'internship' so that the whole class.. and school thinks it's a lie, his lack of the latest gadgets, him being poor, taking lunch money or 'accidentally' tripping him or otherwise ruining his lunches, the name calling, including his favored nickname for Peter, the false rumors, any and all ways Flash picked on him up until earlier that day when he tripped him and he bled, then the fight after ruining his lunch and what Flash said that made Peter snap like that.

By the time Peter is done explaining, all of those listening are fuming. Including Loki who is masking it with a cold look, is boiling inside. Peter doesn't deserve such treatment in his eyes.

"Holy shit kid." Clint mumbles, earning another glare from Steve. Holding up his hands in a placating manner and giving him an apologetic look, Clint turns to Tony then to see how he is holding up.

Hiding his face in his hands, seated on a nearby chair, Tony is having a real hard time to not go strangle Flash.

"They are all expelled right?" Steve asks Peter as processing this information, already thinking of what ways they can help Peter with this and prevent further bullying to take place.

"Yeah, for as far as I know, all five of us are expelled. I.. I tried not to fight.. I swear. But what he said about May.. I just snapped." Peter tells them, clearly feeling a lot of guilt over actually throwing punches after all that effort not to.

"Peter, you've been the bigger man for all these months. You've held back all this time, because you knew you would have hurt them. That shows you are a good person, but even good people have a breaking point. None of us are angry at you for snapping like that. You already know fighting those that can't properly defend themselves is wrong, you don't need us to tell you that." Steve makes clear to Peter, wanting him aware of this first and foremost.

Seeing several of them nod in agreement with Steve when he looks around the room, Peter sighs deep. "I thought I had to deal with it alone. It's my problem, not yours.. That's how I've seen it." he explains to them, now starting to realize this was probably not the right plan to go with.

"Well it's not. And it escalated way too far cos of it, Underoos." Tony now tells him and gets up, crossing the distance between them and ending up at Peter's side. "Time to be honest about something else too, bud. How many times a week do you end up skipping lunches?" he asks then, further alarmed as Peter freezes up and looks away quickly.

"Answer him kid." Rhodey encourages Peter, seeing his reluctance as a sign none of them will like the answer. All the more reason for them to find out the answer in his eyes.

"Most lunches, unless I have some money saved. But often lose that money if I can't avoid Flash. So I don't usually bother." Peter confesses.

"Money saved for lunch? How do.. why.. Peter, why don't I know about this? I know May doesn't make all that much and I've been saying before that I want to help out, but I respected your and her wishes about this." Tony starts and pauses, shaking his head determined. "No more. I draw the line at you not being able to buy food enough. You're going to get a better 'salary' than you've been getting for the 'internship'. That will be your cover for whoever asks. In truth I'm kicking myself for not giving you a regular allowance yet. I figured May was doing this, I never stopped to think she wouldn't be able to afford it. I will not hear a single word of protest about this. I'm also going to help her out to at least make ends meet, pull some strings so her hard work gets recognition. As for you, _young man_, as your dad I'll take a look at your wardrobe needs and get what you're missing. With discretion of course, so there won't be too many questions about it, we don't want to draw unwanted attention. Though with your internship going so well you will be getting a 'raise' so we can justify that somewhat." Tony tells him and takes a deep breath before he continues "And as for lunch.. This week at least you will be getting lunch here at home since you are expelled. After that we'll make sure that you get lunch each day at school. I'll have a bodyguard infiltrate the place if I have to, to ensure shithead.. I mean _Flash_.. gods what a lame name.. will not take that money from you." He holds up a hand then when Peter opens his mouth to protest. "Not a word I said." he scolds Peter and turns when hearing hurried footsteps entering the room.

* * *

_Hope you all enjoy this 11th chapter! More to come as always. And hopefully the next post wont take as long in between as this one has. Reviews are appreciated, questions are welcome. And hope you all have an awesome day!_


	12. Bugs

Seeing it's Bruce who looks flustered to say the least, followed by several doctors and nurses the room looks over at Bruce puzzled as waiting for him to speak up.

"Bruce? What's going on?" Tony is quick to ask as backing off when the team of doctors and nurses swarm Peter, hooking up IV's and seem to be preparing the teen for something.

"Get the blood exchange ready!" one of the doctors calls out to the nurses who hurry out as two others come bringing in many bags of blood, hanging several on a hook.

Wide eyed in concern, Bruce ushers Rhodey and the rest away from Peter saying "It's what was found in his blood samples, he needs a full blood exchange transfusion immediately. We found out why he's weakened and his powers fail him.." Checking on the doctors and nurses, Bruce then turns back to face the team and runs a hand through his hair.

"Wait.. what?" Tony asks in a state of panic, looking over to Peter shocked.

Wide eyed, Peter stares back at Tony as feeling actual fear due to Bruce's words.

"There were.. parasites of some sort.. Some type of technology, machine like, small enough to be in the bloodstream. Undetected by the body, it seems. White bloodcells didn't attack it or recognize it as foreign material. They seem to have one job: suppress abilities. They don't seem to be entering through airborne means, but we're not sure how they entered his body yet. We will have to run tests to find out exactly how they got into Peter's bloodstream." Bruce explains in somewhat a ramble and pauses before he asks "Friday was able to detect it, have we scanned the rest of people yet? To see if anyone else has been infected?"

"Par-parasites?" Peter stammers, looking horrified at the doctors around him wide eyed.

"You're going to be fine, Mister Parker. We will be doing a blood exchange transfusion, replacing your blood with fresh blood to flush out the parasites." one of the doctors reassures Peter and nods to the nurses who come bringing in a machine which may as well be alien technology, looking as strange to Peter as possible.

Walking over then, one of the nurses has a clipboard and starts to ask Peter basic questions about his health, weight, height, just to confirm it all then asks what he's eaten and drank that day.

Meantime Tony instructs Friday to scan every single one of the Avengers, Loki and the girl for the disruption she found in Peter before spreading out to scanning the staff, security and other people in the entire Avenger's Facility.

Waiting impatiently for the results of the scan, the group falls silent and watches on as the doctors and nurses fuss over Peter.

* * *

Piping up a few minutes later Friday says "No disruptions detected in any subjects but one: Peter Benjamin Parker."

This news definitely relieves them all, at least Peter is the only one infected by these tech-parasites.

Busy with hooking Peter on a hi-tech transfusion system and purifying his system while running various tests and scans, the team of doctors and nurses continuously go in and out of the room.

Standing aside worried, Tony doesn't once let Peter out of his sights, trying not to freak out.

Appearing in the doorway then, Vision looks in and knocks on the door to indicate his arrival.

Walking over instantly, Bruce has been waiting for him eagerly. "Anything?" he asks Vision hopeful he fouind out anything useful as Bruce asked his assitance as soon as he found out what's wrong with Peter.

Having busied himself with helping Bruce with some private projects and then Peter's crisis, Vision nods at his question. "I have. I have discussed the matter in length with out team of doctors, scientists and technicians. Each have taken a look at the samples and results. The parasites must be orally ingested, there they make their way into the bloodstream and are activated. The components are.. puzzling however." Vision explains as Tony walks over, picking up on what is being said.

"Puzzling how?" Tony asks, not liking the concerned look on Vision's face.

"They are running more tests and are dissecting the parasites to fully determine function and components, but several components are not identifiable." Vision explains further and eyes Tony as he adds "In other words, not of Earth."

"Alien technology?" Bruce asks, catching on and looks over to Peter startled.

"We must determine how exactly Peter ingested them to find out how they got into Peter's system. From there we can track their origin." Vision points out, which urges Tony to head to Peter quickly.

"Pete, what all did you eat and drink today? Did you tell the nurse _everything_ you ate or drank? Absolutely _everything_?" Tony asks Peter as the teen tries not to panic still, increasingly worried at all the fussing over him.

"What? Y-yea she asked me about it, I told her everything. Why?" Peter asks confused and watches Tony head to the clipboard, reading it without telling him anything.

Noticing this, one of the doctors goes over to Tony and inquires what he is looking for.

Watching Tony talk to the doctor, Peter can't seem to hear what is being said. Straining his ears as best as he can, he gets even more panicked as his enhanced hearing seemingly is also failing him now. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Peter looks up to see it's Rhodey who is looking down at him.

"Calm down, kid. We'll get answers soon, okay? You're in good hands." Rhodey attempts to ease his mind with.

"What exactly is going on though? They won't tell me anything." Peter asks him, getting quite frustrated.

"We'll sit down with you and explain it soon. For now, we need you to hang tight okay?" Steve tells him calmly, looking over to Tony as he walks back with the doctor in tow.

"Peter, did you tell the nurse absolutely positively _everything_ you ate _**and **_drank?" Tony asks him, his face dead serious.

"Yeah, I think so." Peter answers, nodding to him.

"Please think hard if you forgot anything, because none of us are infected.. And you didn't eat or drank anything outside the facility apparently." Tony presses him for answers, not making any sense of it. They _must_ have missed something somwhere if the parasites are not airborne.

"Yeah I mentioned everything. Well.. apart from that juice you left me but that's from you so I didn't think it was worth mentioning." Peter tells Tony casually.

Giving Peter an odd look, Tony says in a confused tone as not making sense of it "What? I didn't leave you anything.."

"Yes you did. In the car Happy drives me to school in. It was in that cup holder in the backseat, in a canteen with a note and everything." Peter tells him, now confused as well.

"Peter. I _didn't_ leave you anything." Tony tells him, getting on his phone to Happy and giving Rhodey an alarmed look.

"I'll get on it." Rhodey is quick to say, heading out of the room to go after this lead asap.

Stepping out into the hallway, Tony engages into conversation with Happy, informing him of their findings and all that's been going on, leaving Peter to worry even more.

* * *

Having found the mentioned canteen and note, Happy made way over to the med-bay to have it thoroughly examined, meeting Tony there. Happy is also quick to inform Tony that the surveillance is now increased and the security personel is going over all footage to pinpoint who put the canteen there.

Clearly they used Tony and Peter's trust in each other against them, making Peter think Tony left it for him. This also means the culprit is aware of Peter's identity and schedule and knows how to blend in.

Guessing it may very well be an agent infiltrating the building or a mole in their midst, Tony calls for a full scale investigation on the matter. Peeking into the room to check how Peter is holding up, he sees Clint and Steve have stepped up into the role of keeping Peter calm best they can, with Loki and Thor standing nearby observing. Not happy with Loki so close to _his_ kid, Tony can't do anything but accept it for now. Turning around he then proceeds to call Pepper to fill her in on all that's happening to Peter, guessing it will not be an easy conversation.

"Do you think it's maybe linked to that girl.. maybe?" Peter asks Clint, his mind working overtime on possible causes as having just been told by Steve and Clint some of what is going on.

"Maybe. Did you notice something off about anyone? Maybe someone following you or watching you?" Clint asks, trying to think on it as well while texting Natasha about what's going on and to get on the case when she is able to since she is their most skilled spy. Surely she'll be able to track down the culprit.

"These parasites.. Can Loki take a look at them perhaps?" Thor asks out of the blue, surprising them all completely.

Stopping mid-texting, Clint looks at the man not sure what to say to that.

Surprised as well, Loki eyes Thor as if he's watching pigs fly around him.

Seeing the response, Thor explains "Loki is skilled in many subjects and technology. Perhaps he can assist. Or offer knowledge since he and I have been on many different planets and realms."

Keeping silent, Steve isn't really excited about the idea, nor is Clint who looks at Loki more than wary about letting him near anything harmful as expecting him to use it against them.

"I do not think this a good plan, Thor." Loki himself points out however, which neither Steve nor Clint expected at all. Unless he says this for the sole purpose of lulling them into a false sense of trust.

"What isn't?" Bruce asks, re-entering the room after having more discussions with doctors and scientists with Vision following him close behind.

"Loki taking a look at those parasites to give his take on it." Clint answers, his tone dripping with skepticism.

"I understand your aversion to is, but he does have knowledge not of Earth." Vision is first to point out, making Clint look at him rather displeased he's taking the 'wrong' side in this.

"You must see logic, friends. And not let your personal view of Loki cloud your judgement. Surely getting help is more important in this case?" Thor tries his best to reason with them.

"Say what now? Are we supposed to forget him being a threat to humanity, his countless kills, not to mention him trying to conquer and entire planet to rule it like some tyrant by killing all those who dare oppose him? For all I know _**he**_ could have put the parasites in Peter's drink in the first place! It's very _suspicious_ it happened right when Loki got to Earth, don't you think? Maybe disguised himself as an agent to do it!" Tony snaps, having walked over and hearing their conversation.

Narrowing his eyes, Loki clenches his jaw more than annoyed at this accusation thrown in his face. So much for them making progress.

"While I understand you coming to that conclusion, i do not think he is at the liberty of accessing those abilities needed to carry out such a plan." Vision points out, looking Loki over.

"My brother has not left my sights, Stark. He cannot clone, or use his illusions to alter his appearance apart from clothing. The most he is able to do is form a small shielf, a small energy blast and change his clothing or that of another. That is the _full _extend of his abilities. Father saw to this. He has been forced to rely on manual labor and his knowledge to assist those he's wronged for all these years of his redemption." Thor is quick to explain to him, not liking the accusation any more than Loki does.

"Spare your breath, Thor. He does not want my assistence, that is his choice to make." Loki tells Thor in a calm tone, though his eyes are dark and stormy, having decided not to impose or demand to help. He sees no reason to, it was offered and he was accused instead. End of.

"Yes it is _**my**_ choice!" Tony feels the need to snap at Loki, clearly not needed but felt like saying it to make extra clear what his view on it is.

"Okay, calm down." Steve tries to step in before things come to blows between the two. "Loki already said it's your choice Tony, he backed off. He's not imposing, not forcing and not even the one who suggested it." Steve continues and looks at Peter.

"Maybe we should take out leave for now after all." Thor suggests to Loki, not having expected the offer of help to be met with this level of hostility. As he thinks they could use all the help they can to quickly find out who's behind the attack.

But Tony does not share that view with the god. "Really Thor, what do you expect from us anyway? Your brother murdered, destroyed, lied, manipulated.. Yet here you are thinking we'd just forget all that and be best buds! _That_ is why I'm this pissed off about it!" Tony now snaps at Thor himself, getting increasingly agitated. "I have enough to deal with _without_ having to constantly watch my back and that of my family with him around!" he adds, his eyes narrowing, darkening dangerously as nearing a new level of anger.

"You have made your point." Thor says back in a cold tone, clearly Tony is not going to be persuaded to change his view of Loki any time soon, if ever. Or about him deserving a second chance.

"Have I? Cos you keep trying to shove him down my throat since you got here!" Tony snaps even louder, on the edge of losing his cool completely.

"That's _enough!_" Steve actually yells at the both of them now, not about to accept them going at each other's throats. "I am _not_ going through this again in the family! I am _**not!**_ There's been enough fights and arguing!" he continues, his usual calmness nowhere to be seen.

_**"Stop yelling!**__ All_ of you!" Wanda's voice fills the room as she stands in the doorway, having teleported over after having tried and failed to shield herself from the massive tension radiating from them all.

Looking over, Steve is qucik to go over to her to try and calm her and reassure her as she looks about ready to cave under the pressure of shielding herself from everyone's haywire emotions. "Sweetheart, you're not supposed to be over here. Does Sam know where-" he asks, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Pushing his hands away and stepping back she snaps "I don't care if I'm not supposed to! Peter doesn't need this! _We_ don't need this! We just got this family back together and you're all so eager to tear it back apart! Just like that!" Looking at Thor then Tony she angrily wipes at her eyes, refusing to shed tears in front of them over it. "Stop being so scared! Don't you trust any of us at all? We protect each other _always_! Did you forget we all promised that or something?!" she snaps at Tony before turning to Thor next. "And you, _stop _forcing it! Trust is earned, not demanded! It's not like you will lose anyone just because we don't get along with Loki or trust him! _Either _way you are an Avenger! It's _**one**_ day and you already expect everyone to be friends! Have you been doing that all those years? Cos I'm surprised Loki managed to get _anyone _to accept him if that's the case!" she snaps at him, her eyes shifting to red, her hair levitating as the energy around her increases, anger radiating from her body.

"Now wait just a min-" Tony starts, not exactly happy to be told off by a teen girl but she's quick to cut him off.

"Stop! Don't you see what you are doing? Peter needs your help and you are too damn busy jumping on any chance to make clear you hate Loki to really focus on him at all!" Wanda points out to him.

Exchanging looks, the rest are seemingly at a loss what to say really. She does have a point..

"_Why_ are you doing this?" Wanda demands, not willing to accept their silence as a response.

"I.. apologize. I am coming on much too strong, I did not realize this." Thor is the first to say, giving Loki somewhat a guilty look.

"But _why?_" Wabda asks him now more calmly, please at least they are communicating in a decent manner.

"Perhaps because I expected a different reception by you all than the Asgardian people and other realms and planet's population we've had these last nine years." Thor tries to explain while attempting to understand his own motives fully.

"Why?" Tony asks him in a very skeptical tone, not seeing why he'd expect them to be more receptive, more open and accepting.

"Because you are his family." Vision feels the need to point out, having understood the logic behind it after observing.

Nodding, Thor shows that he is spot on. "You know me well. And we have grown rather close I thought. Perhaps I then went about it the wrong way and laid trust in a misplaced hope my word would carry more value." he explains, letting out a deep sigh he had been holding in.

Running a hand over his face, Tony grimaces at this and shakes his head. "No. Maybe I have been more defensive and hostile than needed. But you _got_ to give us time, Point Break!" he tells Thor in almost a depserate manner, wanting to get him off his back sooner rather than later.

"Tony, you're not being fair. We _all_ said we'd protect each other. And you act like no one will protect Peter. He's like a little brother to Pietro and me, _of course_ we'd protect him. I doubt any of us would let Loki hurt him. And.. I don't think Loki would anyway." Wanda tells him and eyes Loki directly trying to see if she's right about that.

Observing her, Loki says nothing but inclines his head slightly, giving her a slight nod.

Eyeing her, Tony thinks on her words before seemingly realizing something by the look he gets on his face. "You.. You pick up on stuff with the.." he says and makes an animated gesture to his head.

"Yes.." Wanda confirms, frowning at him seemingly having forgotten she can sense people's emotions and see into their head if she focuses on it. Even pick up on thoughts if they are strong enough.

"You are a witch? Or Seer?" Loki asks, now seemingly intrigued by this girl. He had a little knowledge of who the twins are and some of their abilities from what Thor chose to share with him. But it being the most basic of info, he is now keen on learning more about her. At the very least he needs to be aware of who is around him, especially since he's ordered to stay on Midgard for now.

"Yeah, I've been called a witch. That's my 'hero' name.. Scarlet Witch. Not sure how to really take that though." Wanda confesses.

"There are not that many on Asgard that can cast spells. Sorcerers, witches and alike are a rather rare breed. And some are even revered for it." Loki tells her, regarding her as wondering exactly what she is capable of.

"Revered? That's like.. important and mighty right?" Wanda asks, used to being met with fear and negativity towards her abilities. So his intrigue is a nice change from the usual first impression people have of her.

"Yes. Some are even considered royal in certain realms. On Midgard however... not so much." Loki points out, aware of Earth's disposition towards any magic, witchcraft, sorcery and the likes. Especially in the earlier ages.

Nodding solemnly, Wanda is very familiar with this being a fact sadly.

"Okay... so.." Clint starts, not quite liking Loki's sudden interest in Wanda and attempts to steer the conversation away from her.

Following his lead, as Steve feels the same way, he speaks up "So, we're all going to calm down. And we'll focus on Peter and the child." He then gestures for Wanda to go ahead and go to Peter, maybe having her there will ease Peter's stress as well.

Not needing to be told twice, Wanda is at Peter's side instantly and looks him over in concern. "Hey Spidey.." she then greets him in a sympathetic tone, the sight of him up close and seeing the damage done to him upsetting her.

"Hey witch." Peter says back, smirking at her.

This makes her grin and look towards Loki over her shoulder before looking back to Peter and leaning closer before whispering "Do you think witches should be revered like on Asgard? Cos then they better start treating me like a queen."

Snickering, Peter nods in agreement, appreciating her joking with him.

* * *

"So what's the latest?" Scott asks, walking into the common room where a few are buzzing around the kitchen nearby.

Steve looks over from the kitchen where he is with Pietro and Wanda, starting on dinner. As the twins have increased chores, he puts them to work setting the table and assisting with dinner.

"Tony is still with Peter. The transfusion is going well. They are keeping him there overnight and running more scans, making sure all parasites are gone. He's already starting to heal too." Clint answers him and is texting some leads he contacted to see if he can track down the culprit while seated at the dining table.

"Oh that's awesome news! I'm relieved to hear that!" Scott says in a thrilled tone, happy with getting some actual good news. "Where's the rest though?" he then asks, looking around the place just in case there are more people around he may have missed.

"Thor and Loki are in their room. Bruce, Tony and Vision at the med-bay with Peter. The rest I don't know." Steve answers him as putting the twins to work peeling potatoes.

"What's the latest on the demon child?" Clint asks Scott then, putting away his phone to go help Steve.

"Cube's repaired fully. The girl is still out cold. She.. looks like crap. I mean, seriously.." Scott informs them, making all four look over to him as he joins them in the kitchen.

His lips set in a thin line in concern, Steve let's out a worried sigh. "I hope she wakes up soon. Being out cold like that after last time.. it can't be good. And the longer she is, the worse she'll most likely get and we still won't be able to get any answers out of her. Whoever's behind this is having the upper hand right now. I can't stand that." he tells them, shaking his head at the whole thing.

"Do you think Peter had a point though? About the attack on him maybe being linked? It's a little too coincidental it happened at the same time approximately." Clint asks them, working on cutting the potatoes into parts to be boiled.

"I second that." Steve tells him, nodding and starting on cutting up a variety of vegetables.

"We'll find out." Wanda says determined and exchanges a look with Pietro.

"So long you two stay away from the cube and the girl. And don't go off on your own. You're still very much grounded and not supposed to go on missions alone anyway." Clint reminds them, earning him matching glares in annoyance.

"We _know_." Pietro mutters, not seeing why Clint felt the need to point it out.

Holding up his hands at their displeasure Clint shrugs as casually saying "Just making sure."

Deciding to steer the conversation t a new topic Scott speaks up "Hopefully the science department will have some more answers for us soon on the parasites and origin. I know Happy's gone after the security breach part of it, he'll find out how the juice got in the car.. I hope." Despite being hopeful, he's rather nervous about the fact that someone could get to one of the Avengers like that so easily. And on top of this, they used the bonds between them as and advantage. Clearly they must be dealing with a mole.

"Nat and I are on it too, we'll track whoever dis this to Peter down, put him or her to justice. And get answers on who send them and how. Rhodey is on it as well." Clint informs them, hoping to put them at ease a bit.

"Not that I'm glad it was Peter.. But I am glad that it was _only_ him. Instead of many of us." Wanda confesses, knowing that if it was many of them than lost their powers it would have been a catastrophy.

"Me too darlin'." Steve agrees with her and affectionately kisses the top of her head as he passes her on the way to some cupboards.

Watching the interaction, Pietro is still amazed how much calmer and happier Wanda seeems to be since Steve stepped up as a parent figure to her. He still feels guilt and is troubled about how they have taken on new parents so easily, but he however can't deny the positive effect it has on his sister. It greatly warms him now to see how Steve is towards her, despite having felt the total opposite in the beginning of them living under the Avenger's roof. He had major issues with them interacting with Wanda when first taken in by the captain and the rest of the team, having been territorial, hostile and possessive even when anyone dared to come close to him and Wanda. As well as more than unwilling to acknowledge the team's authority over them, it having been a long and hard road to get to where they are now.

Noticing Pietro's stare and smile, Wanda offers her twin a content smile back, glad he's pleased with her bond with Steve now.

Having been watching the trio himself, Clint grins at the sight. The twins truly have come a long way since he met them.

Looking over to Clint, half for approval and hald for the man's take on the interaction, Pietro sees Clint has been watching closely.

Noticing his expression, Clint decides to put Pietro at ease with a light hearted joke "What? You want a kiss too?" This is enough to send all of them chuckling instantly.

* * *

_Sorry for the wait! Hope this chapter was worth to wait for however! Yeah, Tony isn't being very fair, but would you if you were supposed to have a villain around you that aimed to take over the planet? So I think Tony's reaction is just, if a little extreme perhaps. But her, he has Peter and Pepper to think about. And Thor is just trying too hard. Things will work out one way or another, don't you worry! Anyways, I hope you all have an awesome day and enjoyed the read! Reviews are always welcome and more chapters to come, many.. many more. (typing = page 178.. writing= page 430 lol)_


	13. Unwanted news

Continuing discussing the recent events and sharing theories and questions amongst each other, the five get dinner ready gradually. Heading into the kitchen and sitting down at the still empty nearby dining table, Natasha draws the attention of Clint instantly.

Noticing her demeanor and the look on her face, one that is both calculating and disturbed, he calls over softly "Nat?" getting no response from her, he gets immediately on edge.

Something big must have happened to put her in such a state, Natasha is definitely not someone who's easily rattled. It takes a lot to throw Black Widow off her game, even Loki's taunts didn't phase her much in the past when he was locked up and threatening her from his glass cell.

Frowning at her, seeing her face and how she doesn't seem to respond to Clint, Steve stops what he's doing and goes over to her. "Nat, you okay? What happened?" he asks her, concern clear on his face.

Pulling herself out of her daze a little she looks up at the two. Opening her mouth slightly to explain, she however draws a black on how to even start.

Movement in the doorway draws the attention of the room and they look over as Vision, Bruce and Rhodey appear with Tony behind them.

"I can walk, I'm fine, really." Peter's voice pipes up as Sam and Tony both fuss over him as helping him into the room carefully.

Stunned, as under the impression Peter was being kept in the med bay, Steve, Scott, Clint and the twins look at the arrivals in confusion.

Sitting down at the table after helping Peter sit down beside him, Tony makes sure to look him over just in case.

"Peter!" Wanda cheers, happy to see him walking and looking nearly healed, hugging him around the neck from behind him. "Weren't you supposed to stay in med bay longer though?" she asks, looking him over concerned as to whty Tony and the rest would opt for him to be up and about already. If all, she expected Tony to insist on an extra day.

"He was.." Tony tells her, his tone sounding tired and frustrated, and something else she can't quite place. Tension? Fear? Confusion? Letting out a deep sight, the man rubs his eyes and speaks up again "Let's wait for everyone to get here. I'll send out an alert for those not here yet. Shit hit the fan hard.. We'll explain.. once we're complete."

The subdued tone Tony takes on greatly alarms Steve, as being someone that knows the man for a long time, this being out of character completely for the snarky, smart ass billionaire.

* * *

The dining table is packed full of people, even Loki and Thor having been summoned to the unofficial meeting. As well as Pepper who returned early from her day of meetings with SI and SHIELD boards. The room has fallen completely silent and the tension is heavy in the air.

"Tony.. guys.. what's going on? What happened? And why is Peter out of med bay?" Steve decides to ask, breaking the eerie silence which is driving him nuts. Even more so due to their serious faces and tension.

"We um.. found who placed the juice in the car. And yea, Peter was to stay there for at least the night, but we can't garantee his safety anymore. Taking him here seemed the better option, so we can keep an eye on him better." Tony starts and runs a hand through his hair, still trying to comprehend fully what transpired.

"You found the culprit? Who is it? Why.. how...?" Clint asks, utterly confused why they weren't updated before now.

Spotting the look on his face, Natasha clears her throat to draw his attention as well as get a hold of herself and says "There wasn't any time to assemble or clue you in, we could only act."

This only serves to only increase the worry in the room and they look from Tony to Nat and back, eager to hear the full story.

Having heard only the bare minimum about it, Pepper pulls Peter to her protectively, running her fingers through his hair affectionately as seated beside him. Looking at Tony, she gives him a very worried look, Tony doesn't get this tense without good reason. So whatever happened, it put Tony in a bad state.

Letting out a drawn out sigh after gathering his thoughts, Tony speaks up again "We checked all the footage and are doing full investigations still, but it was through sheer luck that we nabaged to ID the attacker." Taking out a Starkpad he busies himself for a few seconds, then pulls up holographic projections to hover over the table so all of them can see. Shifting through them Tony picks and enlarges a video file from one of the cameras in the garage where Happy's car is located.

Letting the footage run it shows them a male dressed as an agent approach the car and stop beside it. Disabling the lock and car alarm with what seems to be a small device, the man manages to break into the car and opens the door to the backseat area. Taking the canteen with the juice out of his coat pocket, he then places it in the cup holder after wiping off his fingerprints thoroughly then adds the note. Closing the door and enabling the lock and alarm to cover his tracks and avoid suspicion, the man seems to know exactly what he's doing. This is not an amateur. Turning then, his front clearly visible to the camera, his face blurs to unrecognizable, indicating the camera or footage has been tampered with. This keeps up until the man leaves the garage and is out of view before the blur disappears.

"So, we got a double agent in our midst." Scott is the first to say.

"Yeah." Natasha confirms curt, it really gor to her that someone managed to infiltrate quite easily.

"All cameras that captured him were messed with. Each one had that blur, they were thorough. But they didn't count on this one.." Tony says and pulls up a different video file before continuing "This is Friday's Hawk protocol camera, a pet project of mine I been tinkering with. It's coded to specifically counter alteration and improve quality to a much higher level than our current cameras. Plus some other fun stuff.. It's a prototype right now and linked directly into Friday's mainframe, it's the most intelligent camera system we have at the moment. I based the cube's cameras on the same schematics." Letting the footage run he adds "It's because of Friday and pure luck this footage even exists."

Watching on they see the clearest footage in creation thus far. The camera itself seems indeed highly intelligent as it tracks the man, almost as if it's suspicious. They hold their breath collectively as they wait for the man to turn around. The moment he does the camera zooms in and starts to scan the target to get his ID and any other needed info. Hearing a gasp the attention is drawn to Steve.

"That's.. Jonathan Smidth.. " Steve says in clear shock., having gone pale.

Nodding, Tony turns off the footage and turns to them, pulling up the man's files before them. "Yes.. He's been in SHIELD for over 20 years, one of the best we had.. " he explains in a solemn tone.

"_Had_..?" Scott asks, getting a bad feeling there's even more bad news to come.

"He was on his way out of the compound grounds the moment he was ID'd. So it's safe to say that he wasn't working alone. He was tipped off by someone." Rhodey points out.

"We barely had enough time to get to him before he disappeared." Natasha is next to explain, her shoulders tense and rigid.

"Did he have any clues, or any info on who he was working for or with? Did you get anything out of him?" Steve asks instantly, eager to get answers.

Their faces tell them that it's nothing good however as they exchange looks with one another.

"We didn't have time to interrogate him." Natasha tells them in an even tone.

"What, why?" Clint asks puzzled at this, not liking their hesitance.

"He took a cyanide pill before we could." Tony explains and shakes his head in frustration before forcing himself to continue "He did say something though.."

"What? That's.. _drastic_." Scott comments before looking at Tony expectantly to explain further.

Catching on, Steve has a sinking feeling in his stomach about who they are dealing with, but hopes with all his willpower this is not the case. Still, he goes pale and looks ahead of him blankly.

"We've come across that before." Rhodey points out with a blank stare.

"Yeah but only with.." Clint starts then falls silent as realizing and looks at the rest hoping he's wrong about his assuptions.

"HYDRA. Which is what I was about to say.. Those were Jonathan's words. '_Hail HYDRA'_.. His only words." Tony explains, confirming their fears.

"What! I thought HYDRA was effectively wiped out!" Wanda protests, in sheer shock learning that they are still operating to this day.

"So did we." Natasha confesses, very disturbed to have learned this not being the case after all.

Feeling a whole lot less safe in the AF now, they fall silent for a while as letting the news sink in.

* * *

"Okay, I say sticking together and keeping a close eye on each other is a totaly must now. We're going on total lock down for the next couple of days. Security will be increased drastically and scans will be run. Investigations are being set up as we speak." Tony starts after a while and continues "There are already investigations being prepared and some run, Friday is scanning every occupant of the building and around it to root out anyone even remotely suspicious."

Agreeing, Steve takes it from there "Let's make sure to keep to groups of at least two or three people at all times so we can watch each other's backs. Food and drinks should be scanned before consumption and if Friday could scan the air and what not for anything harmful as well that would be appreciated. The agents we can still trust should be put onto the investigations and setting up an operation to start finding out how they managed to infiltrate and what else may have been done right under our noses."

"I suggest we set up a decoy operation to draw the suspicion from an undercover mission to follow each and any lead we find about where HYDRA is operating from and what they managed to corrupt in the compound. If we keep the mission too hidden HYDRA will grow more suspicious so the decoy will be 'accidentally' leaking information occasionally while the undercover mission is in progress. We can use the underground tunnels beneath the compound to smuggle people out without knowing." Tony speaks up again and pauses before saying "This lock down is not just for appearances, since HYDRA will be expecting us to be extra careful and alert, so take it seriously. No one goes outside unless an emergency."

"I know it isn't needed to be said but I will anyway, I expect each and every one of us to jump on this. Roles will be assigned to each of us. We'll need to fully flush out any and all double agent and other HYDRA scum from our core once and for all. Clearly we need to go much deeper than we have gone before to accomplish this. On top of monitoring the girl in the cube, we'll take shifts on monitoring the compound itself. But most important is keeping a close eye on each other." Steve says and glances around the table at the rest to see their stance on this plan.

Sounds of agreement ring out throughout the room instantly, all seeming determined to double down on keeping each other safe, including Thor.

Seeming indifferent about the whole thing for the most part, Loki observes them as he has been doing since summoned to this meeting. Processing their words, body language and over all appearance, he's trying to understand them better. Not as familiar or knowledged about HYDRA, he does know they were Steve's original nemesis from before he went missing. And that they are the organization that went after the Tesseract as well as having been after wold domination and are powerhungry as hell. He does feel interested in the topic, though not acknowledging them as a personal threat. They might however go after Thor since he is considered an Avenger, so Loki finds it important enough to at least gather intel and know who they are dealing with. His face, however, doesn't give away any emotion whatsoever as he continues to quietly observe.

"I will be going as deep into the system as possible, any and all trace.. a fingerprint, footprint, a single hair.. _anything _at all.. I will find it." Natasha vows, driven to get rid of the disease that is HYDRA once and for all.

"I'm on it too, we'll team up. These assholes have been operating for far too long already. "Clint says just as determined and gets up, gerring on with making phonecalls and to start calling in favors and pulling strings right away.

"We'll get them down on their knees, one way or another." Tony vows, comforting Peter with an arm around the teen's shoulder, noticing his slight tremble. Frowning at this, he shares a look of concern with Pepper before turning to Peter fully. "Underoos, let's get some food into your system then straight to bedrest. I have a doctor and two nurses I trust with my life coming over later to check you over. And Friday will be doing scans on you every thirty minutes." he tells him, ignoring the disgruntled look Peter gives him in response.

"So what will _we _be doing?" Pietro asks Steve, gesturing to himself and Wanda, eager to help with keeping the family safe.

"We'll sit down later and plan everything out in detail. We can't do much else but investigare, run scans and increase security for now until we get a lead. Once we get a lead we will be able to take more direct action. For now, everyone keep their eyes open and report anything that seems off, anything at all, no matter how small." Steve instructs the room in response, showing his leader side in full force.

"Perhaps it is wise to turn our attention to processing this new situation and allow us time to formulate an effective plan once we done so." Vision pipes up as looking through the files Tony still has projected over the table.

"Yeah, some food sounds good too while we let it sink in." Sam agrees and looks over to the stove, hoping the food isn't ruined.

Standing up, Steve nods and gestures for someone to help get the food finished while Clint, Rhodey and Natasha busy themselves with making calls and using their personal ipads.

Getting up, Sam offers Steve help with dinner, Pepper joining them after kissing Peter on the head softly, making him blush a little.

Dismissing the holographic projections, Tony places his Starkpad back in the compartment under the table and eyes those that remained seated.

* * *

Looking over to Loki and Thor, Bruce speaks up "Will you assist as well, Thor? We can't garantee you aren't a target as well, being an Avenger and all."

Nodding instantly, Thor doesn't even have to think on this, it being a given that he will help wherever he can. "Naturally. We will both offer assistance where we can." he answers the scientist and turns to Loki who nods curt to show he agrees. Pleased to see Loki doesn't appear to feel like protesting or gicing him grief over 'having to' help, Thor cracks a proud smile at his brother.

Surprised, Wanda and Pietro exchange glances, not having expected the raven haired god to offer to help from what they been told about him.

Giving Wanda a meaningful look, Pietro needs no words to indicate he's suggesting she takes a peek in the god's mind to see if he's deceitful about his motives and agreement to help.

Looking over to Loki, Wanda focuses her mind and abilities on him, trying to be as subtle as possible. Her eyes turning to a red shade, her fingers twitching as red wisps of energy dance around them while she keeps her hands under the table.

Noticing the invasion of privacy and spotting Wanda's eyes on him, Loki stares back at her. He's heard about her, and how she got her abilities, but not much more than that. Feeling a little lightheaded he's impressed she manages to invade his mind rather easily, finding it both intriguing as well as a possible threat.

Noticing Wanda and Loki staring at each other rather intesely, Thor frowns and asks Loki "What is it?" Curious what's gotten Loki so interested in the girl suddenly, he looks between the two and spots Pietro looking rather tense beside his sister.

Flinching a little when Thor locks eyes with him, Pietro swallows nervously as now not so sure anymore it was a good idea after all.

"She's snooping." Loki murmurs to Thor, indicating to the twins he's well aware of their actions.

Widening her eyes at the images that flood her mind when delving deeper, Wanda learns this was a very _very _bad idea. Her abilities still being developed and her control unstable at best, she also has little grtip on what she sees and how deep to go into someone's mind. Her shock and response draws the attention instantly, causing Vision to rush to her side protectively.

Whirling around, Steve snaps "Hey! _**Hey**_!" Having spot Loki staring at Wanda and thinks he may have done something to her instead. His protective papa bear side coming through he goes to Wanda's side, looking her over before eyeing Loki again. "What are you up to!" he demands as Loki now looks at him directly, regarding Steve's tense and angry look.

Horrified and pale as a ghost, Wanda is fast nearing a panic attack, drawing Steve's attention back to her as Pietro and Vision try to comfort her.

Shooting an accusing look at Loki, Tony impatiently waits for the god's answer to Steve, about ready to throttle him.

"Being invaded." Loki answers the super soldier simply, looking back at Wanda. "Not a good idea.. witch." he adds in the same tone, shaking his head lightly.

"Wanda?" Steve now asks, startled by the state she's in and wonders if this is true.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry..! I just.. wanted to peek." Wanda blurts out, holding her head as desperately trying to get the images out.

Sighing deep, Steve clenches his jaw and shakes his head disapprovingly. "You know not to do that. Especially not with Loki of all people.. or Thor. Your powers are still being trained and are unstable, but those are not the only reasons you shouldn't be doing this... by far." he tells her in a light scolding tone, not wanting to yell at her while she's struggling with a panic attack. Full on scolding her won't be helpful in the slightest.

"I sorta get the.. not to do that.. I guess. But why not 'especially' them?" Pietro asks curious, aware her invading the minds of allies is frowned upon.

But their curiosity usually is stronger and wins anyway. Unless training in the simulation room or on a mission, Wanda is not supposed to use this ability.

"Beside doing so with a stranger .. and on moral grounds.. they are _gods_. There are many reasons why it's a bad idea to do that to gods. Loki.. has a dark past you have no business or reason to see first hand, Wanda. Centuries of living." Steve explains, making sure to keep her eyes locked onto him to make her focus and see he's dead serious.

"While I can only encourage you educating yourself.. your 'father' is it..? He's quite right, it is unwise to invade my mind. Not to mention, quite rude." Loki speaks up, though seems anything but angry, looking actually quite calm.

His words make Wanda look over to him embarrassed and blushing lightly before avoiding his gaze.

Stunned at the turn of events, Tony is simply staring at the interaction, not having expected Wanda was actually the one in the wrong.

Standing up from his knelt down position before Wanda, Steve nods to Loki "Father, yes." he tells him, sounding almost territorial.

"Mister Loki?" Peter calls over, making the group look over, some even pausing their research. Stuttering a little, Peter notices he's the center of attention instantly and starts to blush.

About to intervene, Pepper however nudges Tony before he can and he deciddes to let Peter be and ask his question, albeit reluctantly. It's not like a question can hurt much, and Loki can't take them all on in his current state. At least that's what Tony tells himself for reassurance. Looking at Pepper, he decides to back off and eyes Loki, daring him to be anything but nice to Peter. He's however again surprised when Loki looks at him first with an expression as if to observe if Tony is okay with it. Tony is telling himself he must have imagined it, surely Loki isn't being civil and has alterior motives, so he looks away without giving Loki specific permission to engage in conversation with Peter.

Ignoring the clear annoyance and unwillingness to respond to him, Loki instead turns to Peter. "Yes?" he asks the teen, who stutters even more now he has the god's full attention.

Finding his voice, Peter asks "Are you _really _centuries old?"

Somewhat amused, Loki's lips curl up into a smirk, finding Peter's innocence rather endearing. Out of all of them, it seems Peter is the only one who's not showing any fear or hostility towards him. Which is a welcome change in his eyes, or perhaps the teen is simply being naive and careless. Which one is still to be determined. "Yes, I am." Loki tells him. watching Peter as seemingly this makes the gears in his head do overtime.

"How old are you? Like.. _specifically_. Or is that rude to ask? I don't mean to be rude, I'm just curious." Peter rambles after a moment.

"Well, you seem to be feeling more like yourself again.. " Tony tells him, facepalming at his rambling. He seriously hates the fact that Peter is in awe of Loki and Thor as much as he seems to be. In his eyes Peter completely misses the fact he's not supposed to trust Loki whatsoever and realize instead that he's a villain, not their new buddy.

Grinning, Thor finds Peter's curiosity and starstruck demeanor amusing, and it greatly pleases him to see one of them doesn't approach Loki with hatred and hostility despite knowing of Loki's past.

"My current age is 1268." Loki answers him, visibly relaxing somewhat at Peter's genuine interest in him.

Nodding, Steve takes this answer as an opportunity to make his point more clear to Wanda. "See.. Now imagine all those years of life experience, darling. All he's seen, done, thought.. Do _not _invade his or Thor's mind again. and.. you owe him an apology.. former villain or not." he tells her who looks at him nodding slowly as better understanding how bad of an idea it really was.

Still reeling from the images Wanda looks over to Loki then mumbling a sorry.

Rolling his eyes a little at Peter who's still gaping at Loki after the answer he got, Tony glances at Steve. "So Capsicle, does this mean that we can't call you and Bucky old men anymore?" he quips, despite being very much against the idea of being civil with Loki still. He can't deny the fact that they benefit from a bit of lighthearted banter after the latest events.

"Actually _I_ am the eldest here, Stark. With Loki being my younger brother and all, But neither of us are old men.. at least by Asgardian standards." Thor informs him, looking rather pleased with himself.

"So how old are you then, blondie?" Natasha asks, now curious about this herself.

"I will be turning 1627 years old" Thor proudly answers, puffing out his chest somewhat.

"So in normal years.. human age.. how old are you two?" Scott now asks, trying to figure out how old they would be in maturity levels compared to them.

"We are considered adult, if that is what you mean."Thor tells him, eyeing Loki who speaks up next.

"I would say.. between 20 and 30 in human aging. Perhaps considered young adults from what I understand of Midgardian customs." Loki explains in a casual tone. Seeing the response, he's rather surprised they appear genuinely interested in this fact.

"Um, so are we going to eat at some point?" Pietro asks, looking at the food hungrily.

"Yeah, we should. We've discussed things and need to let it sink in further over dinner. Changing topics was a good idea. I suggest to let if further rest for now and just enjoy a meal together." Rhodey suggests.

"I agree. A lot needs to be planned and sorted out.. missions.. research, reports, misisons, roles. But _after_ dinner."Steve says ans head over to the stove to see how dinner is doing.

* * *

Setting the table together the group sits down again to finally have dinner.

"Thor." steve calls over then, having noticed him and Loki make their way towards their quarters.

Turning around mid-stride, Thor looks at the man curious before saying "We will retrieve our meals later." Taking Steve's calling after him as the man guessing they were skipping the meal alltogether.

Eyeing the rest, then the brothers Steve sighs. "I meant what I said, we need to keep an eye on each other. You are potential targets as well. I know it didn't went well last meal.. but I would feel more at ease with you here in our sights. Whether or not we trust Loki, doesn't change the face we need eyes on each other. I doubt anyone here fully disagrees with that." he tells the pair, stunning them.

Taken aback, some of the group are on the verge of protesting, but can't really argue with his reasoning. Despite this meaning they will be having a family meal with them, it's better to keep Loki where they can see him. And it can serve as a civil gesture between them and the former enemy.

Seeing no one is audibly objecting, Thor looks at Loki to see gow he feels about the idea. "The captain has a point, brother." he tells him to try and persuade him.

Partially against the idea after the last attempt at a group meal having left a bad taste in his mouth, Loki contemplates full on refusing and dismissing the invite. He however gives in when seeing Thor's nearly pleding look. Nodding curt he show he's willing to give it another shot, seeing as the Avengers are as well.

Smiling wide, Thor is quick to basically drag Loki back to the table, sitting him down excited before sitting down himself.

Giving him a weird look, Loki shakes his head at how thrilled he seems, almost like an eager puppy.

Snickering softly, Wanda can't help but watch on amused, causing Peter and Peter to snicker as well.

"Well.. I'll be the first to point out that this is the weirdest things have ever been for us.. HYDRA.. Peter attacked, a feral child.. and _Loki_.." Bruce points out, his glance going over the table a little bewildered.

"No shit." Clint agrees, also quite bewildered at the whole situation.

"Language." Steve is quick to mutter, giving Clint a glare and eyes the snickering teens. Although pleased to see them amused instead of tense and fearful, he feels the need to speak up "Eat your dinner, kids."

Looking over the trio see he's smiling as well and not genuinely annoyed with them, but still focus their attention on eating instead.

Having watched the interaction, Loki raises an eyebrow in slight confusion at the way Steve interacts with the teens and some adult members of the team. Not making full sense of it, he decides to further observe them closely. If he is to stay this close to them and is stuck on Midgard, he may as well busy himself with learning all he can about his surroundings and the people around him. He's finding it rather surprising how they are like an army squad in battle but seem a family outside it. Thinking back on the bits and pieces of information Thor has shared concerning the Avengers, he however feels more than surprised about the family setting still. He has a rather hard time seeing them any different than the group of heroes that bested him nine years ago when he was after the Tesseract. Enemies of his.. not a family that seems keen on taking in kids.. teens.. who are not even related to them in any way. Yet they get treated as if they are no different than heir own blood. The way the family interacts is rather foreign to the man.

Leaning close to Thor, Natasha eyes Steve as whispering to Thor "As you can see.. Steve's _still_ the old man of the group."

Letting out a hearty laugh after almost choking on his drink, Thor draws the attention instantly.

"What's so funny?" Sam is quick to inquire, finding Thor's laugh rather infectious.

looking quite mischievous, Natasha smirks and says "That's between me and Thor."

Taking a big bite of food, Thor nods before saying with a full mouth "I honor lady Romanov's wishes."

Glancing at his brother, Loki smiles subtly at seeing Thor so amused. It's been long since he's seen him in such a state and so.. relaxed.

Catching Loki's expression, Steve makes a mental note that telling them to join for dinner was a good idea so far, The lack of hostility and fear is very welcome, and any moments of lighthearted banted and relaxation is a plus. Especially as it seems very unlikely they will be able to relax much for the upcoming weeks dealing with Hydra and the child.

* * *

The rest of the meal going rather well, despite the feeling of awkwardness and tenstity hanging in the air, the group disperses for a while so Tony can get Peter to bedrest.

Reluctant but cooperating, Peter moves to his bedroom where Pepper and Tony are perfectioning their 'worried parent' roles as fussing over him.

As the doctor and two nurses check Peter over, Pepper focuses her attention to getting Tony out the room to attent the briefing with the team about HYDRA. With effort she manages to get the stubborn helicopter dad to let Peter be for a bit, reassuring him she will stay with the teen and that Friday is watching.

Attending the deep discussion about HYDRA with the team, including Loki, spends the next hours going over everything. Discussing their knowledge about HYDRA, the past, present and possible future, they share amongst each other all they know. They even get surprised by Loki having some knowledge of who they are. Assigning roles and coming up with strategies and solid plans alongside the investigations they finally resign for the night near midnight.

* * *

Laying on her bed staring at the ceiling not even half an hour after Steve all but ordered her to sleep, Wana is wide awake. The room dimly lit by the lamp on her nightstand, she has a far away stare on her face as countless images flash through her mind, accompanied by voices she doesn't recognize apart from Loki's.]

"Wanda?" Pietro calls over from the doorway, having watched for several seconds after he slipped into her room. Getting no response, he head in with a feeling of concern in the pit of his stomach. Troubled by the look on his sister's face and the lack of response he sits down beside her on the bed. "Sis?" he asks, gently touching her shoulder so not to startle her.

"Hm?" she hums, having noticed him but barely responds to him nonetheless.

"What are you thinking about so deep?" Pietro asks though frowns at the sentence feeling off in his own head.

"Stuff. Couldn't sleep?" she asks, now turning to look at him.

"HYDRA stuff? And yea." he replies, noticing her eyes showing a mixture of disturbance and worry. Something more must be on her mind than HYDRA, as the topic hasn't caused her to be this upset before now.

"Yea.. HYDRA. Worried about being safe here still.. and Peter." she explains though her tone hints at it only being part of the story.

Nodding, Pietro makes himself more comfy and lays down beside her, his back resting against the wall the headboard of the bed is up against. "I'm worried too. But here is safest. I mean.. with a whole team of superheroes around.. including a god. Nowhere else is safer. And Peter seems almost healed." he says and pauses. "What is _really _bothering you though?" he then asks, giving her a troubled look.

Looking away, Wanda sighs deep. "I can't stop thinking on what I saw and heard when inside his head." she says in a quiet tone, staring back up at the ceiling.

"I shouldn't have suggested it.." Pietro says in a guilty tone, confronted with the fact it has such a deep impact and is lintering in his sister's head for so long.

"It wasn't like I was forced. I would have probably done it without you suggesting it, Pietro." Wanda mumbles, trying to ease his clear guilt, but it has little effect.

"It was a _very_ bad idea."he states and shakes his head in disapproval of their actions.

"Yeah turns out it was. But it seemed like a good idea at the time.. "Wanda points out as trailing off, feeling herself slip back into the loop of images and voices filling her head.

"What.. did you see..?" Pietro carefully asks, not sure if it's a good idea to make her go into detail. But seeing how it's troubling her as much as it is, perhaps talking about it will help her.

"It's.. fragmented. Pieces.. not full stories.. Voices.. and they say words.. rarely sentences. I can't make full sense of any of it. And asking Loki about it is not gonna go over well I'm sure.. Like.. 'hey Loki I know I snooped in your thoughts and memories and all but can you give me even more private information so I can sleep?' Yeah.. I'd be a dea witch." she tells him then lets out a frustrated huff.

Wincing, Pietro nods in agreement then says "Can you try sharing what you see though? Maybe it will help."

Looking back at him, Wanda bites her lip in thought on it for a few seconds then nods, figuring it can't help to try. "I see this woman.. in a golden dress, brown hair.. She looks at him like.. like..um warmly, with love I'd say. But she's older than Loki is. I get this warm and loving feeling with it. But, also so much guilt.. and such deep pain. I've never felt anything like it.. No.. I did once.. When I let those.. the bomb.." she explains, trailing off as the memory of it is still too painful to her.

Listening closely, Pietro nods solemnly, knowing what she's aiming at and doesn't need her to go deeper into it.

Continuing Wanda switches topics quickly. "And yelling, so much anger.. no.. not anger.. _hurt.._ Deep hurt. This man with white hair and a bread.. holding a staff. Loki is screaming at him.. hurting.. betrayal.. He feels.. _lied to.. _betrayed. then.. n-no.." Going deeper into the memories she widens her eyes, terror washing over her. "He let go.. Thor screamed.. dark.. it's so dark.. I can't see.. I-I can't- .. Only cold.. no sounds, no light.. nothing.. only endless nothing.. " stuttering in fear the images are swallowing her conciousness, making her feel as if she's drowning in them. Panting she watches on, going speechless at the images before her.

"Wanda?" Pietro asks more than concerned, sitting up and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Wanda stop. Don't look anymore!" he continues, trying to draw her back into the present.

Flashes of fear and pain shoot through her body as she bolts upright, causing Pietro to back away so not to be headbutted. Looking at her hands, her whole body is trembling and she begins to sob brokenheartedly.

Wrapping her into a tight hug protectively, Pietro holds her in attempt to console her instantly.

"Blood.. pain.. fear.. so.. _so much blood_" she sobs, burying into Pietro's embrace trying to hide from the thoughts and voices desperately.

"I got you sis, you're safe." he reassures her, rubbing her back gently and waits for her to quiet down slowly.

* * *

Having noticed her going silent and getting heavier in his hold, Pietro realizes she must have fallen asleep. Gently as possible he manoeuvers her to lay down on her bed as comfy as he can manage and looks at her concerned, seeing the subtle streaks of mascara the tracks of tears left. Deciding not to leave her all alone tonight he lays down next to her, letting out a sigh. Starting at the ceiling same as Wanda had earlier, he wishes he could somehow erase those memories and voices from her head for her. Or turn back time so she never looked into Loki's head in the first place. Feeling his eyes getting heavy not long after he soon drifts off himself, his hand protectyively holding on to his sister's.

* * *

Passing the room as making way to his bedroom after getting a glass of cold water, Steve notices the streak of light under Wanda's door and frowns. Carefully opening the door and preparing to reprimand her for being up still, he lays eyes on the twins on the bed. He can't help but smile at the endearing sight and heads into the room, making sure to be silent.

Used to seeing them sharing the bed like that, especially in the beginning when taking them in and them refusing to leave each other's side. But it however has been a while since they done so. Placing his glass of water down on the dek in the room, steve picks up a blanket that's draped over a chair and covers the pair with it so they won't get cold.

Moving to the nightstand then to turn the lught off he frowns and pauses, seeing Wanda's face. Clearly she's been crying, this concerns him grealy and he brushes some hair from her face sympathetically before kissing her brow. Telling himself to inquire about it in the morning he turns off the light and retrieves his water before leaving the room, closing the door softly so not to wake them.

Bumping into Clint outside the room he's asked "Pietro isn't in his room, is he with Wanda?"

Nodding and putting his finger to his lips to tell Clint to be quiet, Steve whispers "He is. Wanda's been crying it seems. I tucked them in, both were asleep."

Reassured upon hearing Pietro is with Wanda and sleeping, Clint turns his attention to Wanda and whispers back "Do you know why?"

Shaking his head, Steve feels more than concerned about it.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to include them in the talk about HYDRA. But, they needed to be briefed as well.." Clint continues, pondering out loud.

"I don't think that's it, even though I know they are shaken up about the safety. I'll talk to her tomorrow. Let's get some sleep for now." Steve whispers and takes a sip of water.

Nodding in agreement, Clint then turns and heads to his bedroom to attempt to get some shut eye.

Watching him leave, Steve then looks at Wanda's door before heading to his own bedroom to do the same.

* * *

**_** My apologies for the long wait between posts, I had serious motivation issues and then my computer crapped out on me. But here you go, I hope you all like this new chapter. and as always hope you have an awesome day. Reviews and likes are always appreciated. I promis the next chapter won't be such a long wait!**_**


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